Stereophotogrammetric Basic Framework for Postural Assessment

Deviations of the vertebral column have become increasingly common. The follow-up of a spine deviation is performed every 2 or 3 months by routine visits and X-ray examinations. X-ray examination produces ionising radiation, which, over time, can cause cancer and is accumulative: this risk increases with the number of exposures. This work describes the conception and initial development of a simple and portable system based on stereoscopy capable of performing a topographic analysis of the patient’s back, as well as 3D reconstruction, in order to subsequently allow postural assessment. The stereoscopic system was built and calibrated, then the images underwent a process of rectification and point matching to create a depth map, so that preliminary results point to adequate 3D reconstruction of the back of a plastic phantom. The advantage of this method is the minimization of parallax errors, low cost, easy implementation and portability.