Study on diagnostic techniques for lumbar abnormalities from MR images

Abstract

The spinal column is a vital organ in the human body. Spine injury newlinein lumbar region causes low back pain and at times even leads to paralysis. newlineLow back pain in humans is one of the most common lifelong disabilities. The newlinecommon types of lumbar spine diseases are disc degeneration, bulge, herniation, newlineand spinal stenosis. The first step in identifying the cause for back pain is a newlinephysical examination focusing on neurological and non-neurological conditions. newlineAfter ruling out non-neurological conditions, the physicians suggest an imaging newlinestudy of lumbar spine region for further analysis about the injury, especially if newlinethe pain is progressive. X-ray, Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET) are various medical imaging modalities for diagnosing lumbar abnormalities. In MR images, the soft tissues in spinal column like Intervertebral Discs (IVDs), spinal cord are clearly visible than in either CT or X-ray. Hence, MRI is preferred over other modalities in the diagnosis of spine abnormalities. In T2-weighted MR images, the intensity variations with or without abnormality are more distinguishable than other different protocols of MRI. The medical experts diagnose the disc bulge and herniation from T2-weighted axial images. They refer T2-weighted sagittal newlineimages to diagnose central canal spinal stenosis and disc degeneration. newline newline