Using Three-Dimensional Ultrasound to Improve Diagnosis, Guide Surgery and Reduce Radiation in Orthopaedic Trauma and Pediatric Orthopaedics

整形外科医生修复骨折和治疗发育异常，如髋关节发育不良。这两个领域都依赖于 严重依赖2D成像技术，难以正确评估和测量复杂的3D结构，例如 骨盆或髋关节。这使得精确定位骨碎片和插入钢丝和螺钉进行修复变得困难 创伤中的骨折或准确诊断髋关节的早期发育异常。当前术中 成像技术利用辐射。这种辐射暴露对我们的手术患者来说特别重要， 更深入地渗透到身体中，并且对于长期暴露的外科医生来说。超声成像（US） 为我们提供了一种替代辐射的方法，但会产生模糊的图像。这使得计算机系统难以 准确地找到骨或软骨表面，这对于成像在手术中有用是必要的， 创建发育中的髋关节的精确模型。我们小组在使用一种新技术迅速 在US图像中找到骨和软骨表面。我们的工程师和外科医生团队将与当地的 一家专门从事超声机器的公司，以解决儿科骨科的一些重要应用， 包括股骨和骨盆骨折修复和发育不良诊断，通过构建特定用途的机器， 在实验室和临床环境中进行了测试。如果我们成功的话，超声将成为术中的有益补充， 成像，并可以用更可靠的工具取代2D超声。创伤患者将受益于改善 准确性和功能结果，同时减少辐射暴露。婴儿发育不良诊断将变得更加可靠 并将减少治疗不足和过度。这项技术的进步将使我们的商业伙伴， 拓展重要的新市场。

Orthopaedic surgeons repair broken bones and treat developmental abnormalities such as hip dysplasia. Both areas rely heavily on 2D imaging techniques that make it difficult to properly assess and measure complex 3D structures such as the pelvis or the hip joint. This makes it difficult to accurately position bone fragments and insert wires and screws to repair broken bones in trauma or to accurately diagnose early developmental abnormalities of the hip. Current intra-operative imaging techniques utilize radiation. This radiation exposure is of particular concern for our surgical patients as the radiation penetrates deeper into the body and for the surgeons that are exposed consistently overtime. Ultrasound imaging (US) provides us with an alternative to using radiation but produces blurry images. This makes it difficult for computer systems to accurately find bone or cartilage surfaces which is necessary in order for the imaging to be useful in the operating and to create an accurate model of the developing hip joint. Our group has had strong success in using a new technique to quickly find bone and cartilage surfaces in US images. Our team of engineers and surgeons will work in collaboration with a local company that specializes in ultrasound machines to address some important applications in pediatrics orthopaedics, including femoral and pelvic fracture repairs and dysplasia diagnosis, by building purpose-specific machines that can be tested in both the lab and clinical settings. If we are successful, ultrasound will become a useful complement to intraoperative imaging and could replace 2D ultrasound with a more reliable tool. Trauma patients will benefit from improved accuracy and functional outcomes while decreasing radiation exposure. Infant dysplasia diagnosis will become more reliable and will decrease under- and over-treatment. This advancement in technology would allow our commercial partner to expand into significant new markets.