Objective:To establish age- and gender-based normative values of sagittal spinal-pelvic alignment in Chinese adult population, and to investigate influence of age, gender and ethnicity on sagittal spinal-pelvic alignment in Chinese normal adults.Methods:A total of 786 asymptomatic Chinese adult volunteers aged between 20 and 89 years were prospectively recruited from different spine centers. The inclusion criteria were: 1) age between 20 to 89 years old; and 2) Oswestry disability index (ODI) scored lower than 20. The exclusion criteria were: 1) previous history of spinal, pelvic or lower limb pathologies that could affect the spine; 2) presence of recent and/or regular back pain; 3) previous surgeries on spine, pelvic and/or lower limb; and 4) pregnancy. Demographic characteristics of these subjects including age, gender, body weight and height were recorded. During the enrollment of volunteers, 16 groups were defined based on the age (20 s, 30 s, 40 s, 50 s, 60 s, 70 s and 80 s) and gender. Whole body biplanar standing EOS X-ray radiographs were acquired to evaluate the sagittal alignment. Spinal-pelvic parameters including pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT), sacral slope (SS), thoracic kyphosis (T 5-T 12, TK), lumbar lordosis (L 1-S 1, LL), lower lumbar lordosis (L 4-S 1, LLL), global tilt (GT), T1 pelvic angle (TPA) and sagittal vertical axis (SVA) were measured. Values of PI-LL and lordosis distribution index (LLL/LL, LDI) were calculated. Radiographic measurements of 100 subjects were randomly selected to determine the intra- and inter-observer reliabilities using inter- and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). The spinal-pelvic parameters were compared among volunteers between different age and gender groups. The comparison was also made among various ethnic population. Results:The mean value was 23.7±7.1 kg/m 2 for BMI and 6.9%±2.5% (range, 0-18%) for ODI score. Each sagittal spinal-pelvic parameter was presented with mean value and standard deviationbased on age and gender. The ICCs of radiographic measurements ranged from 0.89 to 0.95, suggesting good to excellent intra- and inter-observer reliabilities. Significant differences were observed between males and females in multiple sagittal parameters (all P values <0.05). Compared to the male subjects, significantly higher values of PI (41.4° for male vs. 45.0° for female, P<0.001), PT (10.7° for male vs. 13.9° for female, P<0.001), PI-LL (-0.5° for male vs. 1.8° for female, P<0.001), and GT (10.9° for male vs. 13.5° for female, P<0.001) were documented in female subjects. Males had significantly higher values of LLL (28.6° for male vs. 26.6° for female, P<0.001) and LDI (0.68 for male vs. 0.63 for female, P<0.001). PI-LL, SVA, GT and TPA increased with aging from Group 40 s to Group 80 s, while LL, LLL and LDI decreased gradually, and TK decreased slowly with aging. Comparison of sagittal spinal-pelvic parameters between different ethnic subjects showed that Chinese adult population presented lower PI, SS, TK and LL as compared with American population; lower PI, SS and LL as compared with Japanese population. But the variation trend with aging tended to be consistent among different ethnic populations. Conclusion:Age- and gender-based normative values of sagittal spinal-pelvic alignment were established in asymptomatic Chinese adult population. Sagittal spinal-pelvic alignment varies with age and gender, and presented different compensation mechanism among different ethnic populations. Therefore, to achieve balanced sagittal alignment, age, gender and ethnicity should be take intoconsideration when planning spine correction surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Whether the developed new type of radiotherapy auxiliary fixation device compatible with the head and neck joint coil can improve the quality of magnetic resonance images in radiotherapy and verify whether it can be applied to clinical treatment. METHODS: The clinical trial selected patients with brain metastases and nasopharyngeal cancer patients, using thermoplastic film and head and shoulder molds for posture fixation, and treatment on the ELekta Versa accelerator. SPSS 20.0 statistical software was used to analyze the data. The measurement data were expressed by RESULTS: Considering the influence of the outer contour of the device, the target dose meets the clinical requirements. The setting error is less than 2 mm in the three translation directions, and the rotation error is less than 2 CONCLUSIONS There is no statistical difference between the treatment results of patients using the new type of fixation device and the conventional method. The target area threatens the organ dose, and the positioning error meets the treatment requirements.
Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; Neck ; Posture

MRI simulation images quality of head and neck coil scanning is better than that of radiotherapy surface coil, but currently the head and neck coil is not compatible with radiotherapy positioning devices. In this paper, a new fixation device is developed based on computer reverse engineering technology, which can be used in combination with head and neck coil. This article focuses on discussing the feasibility of the new device in radiotherapy. The obtained ACR phantom and Cat phantom 504 images were used to analyze MR and CT images quality assurance indicators. The dose attenuation of 6 MV photons was measured using the ionization chamber. The results showed each index met the clinical application requirements of intracranial tumor radiotherapy, thereby it can be used in intracranial tumor radiotherapy.
Feasibility Studies ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; instrumentation ; Phantoms, Imaging ; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted