Quantitative Analysis of Neural Foramina in the Lumbar Spine: An Imaging Informatics and Machine Learning Study.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To use machine learning tools and leverage big data informatics to statistically model the variation in the area of lumbar neural foramina in a large asymptomatic population.

Materials and methods

By using an electronic health record and imaging archive, lumbar MRI studies in 645 male (mean age, 50.07 years) and 511 female (mean age, 48.23 years) patients between 20 and 80 years old were identified. Machine learning algorithms were used to delineate lumbar neural foramina autonomously and measure their areas. The relationship between neural foraminal area and patient age, sex, and height was studied by using multivariable linear regression.

Results

Neural foraminal areas correlated directly with patient height and inversely with patient age. The associations i

SUBMITTER: Gaonkar B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8017393 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature