Coarse X-ray Lumbar Vertebrae Pose Localization and Registration Using Triangulation Correspondence
, Jun-Su Jang 3, Daesung Lee 4,* and Krisana Chinnasarn 1,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors,
Congratulations on your work. In my opinion, the following topics should be addressed to improve the manuscript:
- Introduction should provide more information about the topic's background:
* e.g, the relevance of the research area, identify social/clinical/health problems in society, and their significance to pursue research on this topic).
* Regarding computer methods, I suggest reading the following papers:
1. Azevedo TCS, Tavares JMRS, Vaz MAP (2008) 3D object reconstruction from uncalibrated images using an off-the-shelf camera. Springer, pp. 117–136
2. Azevedo TCS, Tavares JMRS, Vaz MAP (2010) 3D reconstruction and characterization of human external shapes from 2D images using volumetric methods 3D reconstruction and characterization of human external shapes from 2D images using volumetric methods. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin 13(3):359–369. https://doi.org/10.1080/10255840903251288
* Regarding back disorders and problems for the individual and society, please see the introduction/background provided the following papers:
1. Gabriel, A.T., Quaresma, C., Secca, M.F. et al. Development and clinical application of Vertebral Metrics: using a stereo vision system to assess the spine. Med Biol Eng Comput 56, 1435–1446 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-018-1789-0
2. Gabriel, A.; Quaresma, C.; Secca, M. and Vieira, P. (2016). Vertebral Metrics - Application of a Non-invasive System to Analyse Vertebrae Position using Two Seating Platforms. In Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2016) ISBN 978-989-758-170-0; ISSN 2184-4305, pages 235-240. DOI: 10.5220/0005790202350240
- Section 2.1.1
"Human Lumbar Spine" is not material for your study, I guess. In this case, I suggest replacing it with "x-ray images of the human lumbar spine".
- Section 2.2.3
What does the "area of vertebrae" refers to? Is the sum of the area of all faces? Or is the area in the lateral plane? This issue must be clarified.
- Overall comments:
* You used radiographs of the human lateral spine provided by a nearby hospital. Was your request approved by an ethical committee? How did you obtain approval? Because you are using real data and consent must be provided before the study.
* Results should be further (critical) discussed
* It would be great if you could provide some examples of the application of your algorithm in real contexts (in the conclusion section).
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 comments
Point 1: - Introduction should provide more information about the topic's background:
* e.g, the relevance of the research area, identify social/clinical/health problems in society, and their significance to pursue research on this topic).
* Regarding computer methods, I suggest reading the following papers:
1. Azevedo TCS, Tavares JMRS, Vaz MAP (2008) 3D object reconstruction from uncalibrated images using an off-the-shelf camera. Springer, pp. 117–136
2. Azevedo TCS, Tavares JMRS, Vaz MAP (2010) 3D reconstruction and characterization of human external shapes from 2D images using volumetric methods 3D reconstruction and characterization of human external shapes from 2D images using volumetric methods. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin 13(3):359–369. https://doi.org/10.1080/10255840903251288
Response: We've added the citation to these paper to introduction section, please see in attachments.
Point 2: * Regarding back disorders and problems for the individual and society, please see the introduction/background provided the following papers:
1. Gabriel, A.T., Quaresma, C., Secca, M.F. et al. Development and clinical application of Vertebral Metrics: using a stereo vision system to assess the spine. Med Biol Eng Comput 56, 1435–1446 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-018-1789-0
2. Gabriel, A.; Quaresma, C.; Secca, M. and Vieira, P. (2016). Vertebral Metrics - Application of a Non-invasive System to Analyse Vertebrae Position using Two Seating Platforms. In Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies - BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2016) ISBN 978-989-758-170-0; ISSN 2184-4305, pages 235-240. DOI: 10.5220/0005790202350240
Response: We've added the citation to these paper to introduction section, please see in attachments.
Point 3: - Section 2.1.1
"Human Lumbar Spine" is not material for your study, I guess. In this case, I suggest replacing it with "x-ray images of the human lumbar spine".
Response: We've changed section 2.1.1 to X-ray images of human lumbar spine and add more details, please see in attachments.
Point 4: - Section 2.2.3
What does the "area of vertebrae" refers to? Is the sum of the area of all faces? Or is the area in the lateral plane? This issue must be clarified.
Response: "The area of vertebrae can be determined by adjusting the number of edges connecting to each node. It is mean that the area is coarsely locate using the faces of Delaunay triangles.
We added more explanaintion in section 2.2.3"
Point 5: * It would be great if you could provide some examples of the application of your algorithm in real contexts (in the conclusion section).
Response: We've added the applications of the proposed method in the conclusion section, please see in attachments.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
In this paper, the authors proposed a model that consists of three fundamental steps. For automated cropping, the grayscale lumbar input image was initially projected vertically using its vertical pattern. Then, Delaunay triangulation was performed with SURF features serving as triangle nodes. The proposed method provided an automated estimation of the position of the human lumbar vertebrae, thereby decreasing the radiologist's workload, computing time, and complexity in a variety of bone-clinical applications. The following review comments are recommended, and the authors are invited to explain and modify.
Comment: Novelty is confusing. A highlight is required. The main contributions of the manuscript are not clear. The main contributions of the article must be very clear and would be better if summarize them into 3-4 points at the end of the introduction.
Comment: “2.1. Materials”, in this section where is material/data that is used in experimentation? Or is this part of the first introduction section?
Comment: When writing phrases like “Image segmentation is utilized in a variety of medical applications to classify unique anatomical elements, such as vertebrae, bones, and soft problems” such as: (https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2540175).
Comment: “A nearby hospital provided the X-ray that produced these images” what dost it means in scientific research papers?
Comment: Authors did not mention implementation challenges.
Comment: Discuss the stability of the system in terms of complexity.
Comment: Could you please check your references carefully? All references must be complete before the acceptance of a manuscript.
Comment: Moreover, it should be noted that the clinical appliance has to be decided by medicals since the existing differences between the real image and the one generated by the model could be substantial in the medical field.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 comments
Point 1: “2.1. Materials”, in this section where is material/data that is used in experimentation? Or is this part of the first introduction section?
Response: We've added description of the experimented dataset in section 2.1.4, please see in attachments.
Point 2: A nearby hospital provided the X-ray that produced these images” what dost it means in scientific research papers?
Response: We've changed the phrase to "We evaluated the performance using the BUU-LSPINE dataset which collected from Burapha University between February 2021 - November 2022.", please see in attachments.
Point 3: Authors did not mention implementation challenges.
Response: The implementation challege were added to introduction section, please see in attachments.
Point 4: Discuss the stability of the system in terms of complexity.
Response: " We've added the complexity experiment in result and discussion section.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors,
Thank you for addressing my suggestions. Congratulations on your work.
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors have answered my questions satisfactorily.
