Rasterstereography for the follow-up of AIS patients

Scoliosis is a three-dimensional spine deformity. The most frequent scoliosis type is adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), with no clear specific underlying cause and risk of curve progression with growth. Treatment is based on curve magnitude and residual growth progression. The gold standard examination to monitor curve progression is standard postero-anterior radiography, which lead to frequent radiation exposure and an increase of mortality due to cancer. A promising radiation-free measurement tool is rasterstereography. It consists to evaluate scoliosis curve based on surface toppography of the skin of the back. Rasterstereography could help to reduce radiation exposure for monitoring of curve progression. The present chapter briefly details the history and the techniques of rasterstereography, describes the existing literature about the reliability and variability of rasterstereography and suggests some clinical applications and perpespectives for future studies.