ABSTRACT
Most published papers have evaluated the spine via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) due to its clinical importance, though radiography and computed tomography (CT) have also been the subject of many studies. It presents an up-to-date review of clinical and technical aspects related to computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) in the evaluation of spinal diseases, with specific sections dedicated to the vertebrae and intervertebral discs. Considering the importance of MRI in the clinical routine, this chapter focuses on this technique, and discusses the MRI aspects related to image processing. Nevertheless, the proposed CAD methodology showed limitations in the steps of semiautomatic segmentation and identification of vertebral end plates, resulting in the loss of 36" of vertebral bodies for the subsequent steps of height measurement and classification. Important spinal CAD systems, especially MRI-based CAD systems, have been developed and published, but further validation in a clinical scenario is necessary.
