title: A New Technique to Increase Reliability in Measuring the Axis of Bone.
abstract: Measuring bone angles is an important method for diagnosing disease and predicting the prognosis in orthopedics. Traditionally, the angle is measured using lines drawn manually and adjusted by the naked eye. The purpose of the present study was to propose new methods to measure the bone angles formed by the axes of the calcaneus with good reliability and low operational error. The 2 new methods used linear regression analysis of the points inside and on the "envelope" line. The traditional method used the vector of the lines drawn for calculation. Digital radiographs of the lateral view of the feet from 51 patients were collected, and the angles were measured using these 3 methods. Next, we analyzed the reliability, differences, and correlations of these 3 methods. The intra- and interobserver comparisons revealed significant differences between the results of the 2 new methods and those of the traditional method. In addition, the new methods had greater reliability and better intra- and interobserver correlations than did the traditional method. We suggest that these 2 new methods to measure bone axis should be added to the Picture Archiving and Communication System to obtain more reliable and standardized data in clinical practice and for future research purposes.
authors.affiliation: Orthopedist, Department of Orthopedics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chia-Sheng
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Medical Doctor, Department of Family Medicine, Renai Branch, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan; Assistant Professor, Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tai-Yin
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Orthopedist, Department of Orthopedics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ting-Ming
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Orthopedist, Department of Orthopedics, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sheng-Mou
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Orthopedist, Department of Orthopedics, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kao-Shang
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.affiliation: Orthopedist, Department of Orthopedics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan; Orthopedist, Department of Orthopedics, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan; Surgeon, Department of Traumatology, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan; Assistant Professor, Fu-Jen Catholic University School of Medicine, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Electronic address: d92008@yahoo.com.tw.
authors.forename: Chen-Kun
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Liaw
mesh_terms: D002111:Calcaneus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000379:methods*; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: angle; bone axis; foot; radiography; reliability