Intervertebral disc structure: Observation by a novel use of ultrasound imaging

The internal structure of intervertebral discs is clinically important in t he management of back pain. No current routine imaging modality is able to image disc structure satisfactorily, The aim of this work was to investigat e and validate ultrasound imaging so that it might be applied to assessment of structural integrity and degree of degeneration. The optimum imaging te chnique was determined using a 3.5 MHz probe in one female subject, The app licability of this technique to investigate disc structure in the entire th oracolumbar spine was further investigated in 13 subjects. The optimum disc imaging technique was found to be a posterolateral approach, 1 to 2 cm lat eral of the dorsal midline. that revealed structure within the disc not app arent using other approaches, It was demonstrated that posterolateral imagi ng introduces a smaller reproducibility error in measurements of linear dim ensions close to the disc. It is possible to observe internal structure wit hin the disc between T11 and L3 in at least 54% of individuals. (C) 2000 Wo rld Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.