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Event

Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting 2016

Introduction Excerpt

Chiari Malformation Type I (CMI) is a neurological disorder, conventionally characterized by the cerebellar tonsillar descent at the base of the skull. Patients often experience pain as well as many other symptoms. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is used to determine the cerebellar tonsillar position (CTP) and allows physicians to exclude other disorders as the cause of symptoms. The information obtained from MRIs in combination with patient symptomatology is the most commonly used approach for CMI diagnosis [1]. Recently, the impact of CTP, as a single morphometric parameter, on symptomatology and etiology of CMI has been questioned [2]. As such, determination of novel craniospinal morphometrics that are correlated with patients’ symptoms may result in a better understanding and a more accurate diagnosis of CMI. In this study, we examined size and shape of many structures within the intracranial portion of the brain, oral cavity, and upper vertebrae in a large database (Chiari1000) comprised of MR images and symptomatology of Chiari individuals and healthy controls..

Contributors

Maggie S. Eppelheimer, Aintzane Urbizu, James R. Houston, Soroush Heidari Pahlavian, Audrey Braun, Dipankar Biswas, Philip A. Allen, Rick Labuda, Francis Loth