TITLE:
Accuracy of the SpineNav3DTM Technology to Measure the Depth of Epidural Space: A Comparison with the Standard Ultrasound Technique in Pregnant Volunteers
AUTHORS:
Giorgio Capogna, Simone Baglioni, Valentina Milazzo, Arturo Vitale
KEYWORDS:
Ultrasound, Epidural, Obstetrics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Anesthesiology,
Vol.8 No.4,
April
20,
2018
ABSTRACT: Background: The SpineNav3DTM technology was recently incorporated in the Accuro device for the automatic detection of spinal bone landmarks. The goal of our study was to validate the ability of the Accuro ultrasound scanner to detect the distance from skin to epidural space by comparing it to the golden standard (the standard ultrasound). The secondary end-point was the inter-rater agreement between an expert anesthesiologist and a novice trainee in determining the epidural space depth with the Accuro device. Methods: 96 consecutive healthy volunteer parturients at term had their lumbar area scanned for the measurements of the depth of the epidural space (recorded in cm) by two anesthesiologists. The expert investigator made the measurements with both the standard ultrasound and the Accuro devices, and the trainee made the measurements with the Accuro device only. Results: There were no differences in the mean depth of the epidural space as measured by the expert or the novice investigator with both the devices (standard ultrasound and Accuro) in both positions (sitting and lateral) at any intervertebral level with a difference less than 0.25 cm. Conclusion: We have demonstrated that this handheld ultrasound system with 3D spine navigation technology can automatically identify the key neuraxial landmarks within ultrasound images of the lumbar spine acquired in the transverse plane and measure the epidural depth with the same accuracy as the standard ultrasounds. We have also demonstrated that the measurements may be rapidly and adequately obtained by a novice who had never previously used ultrasounds.