One Year Outcomes -18FDG-PET-CT Assessment of Multifidus Activity and Radiomics-Based Heterogeneity Analysis During Restorative Neurostimulation

Abstract

Introduction: Restorative neurostimulation for chronic mechanical low back pain relies on stimulation of the L2 medial branch of the dorsal ramus to elicit episodic tetanic contractions of the lumbar multifidus muscle in order to restore neuromuscular control of the lumbar spine. Quantification of metabolic activity, heterogeneity using PET uptake measurements and radiomic based texture analysis on 18F FDG-PET/CT provide a unique opportunity to visualize and quantify changes in the segmental and entire lumbo-sacral length of multifidus and paraspinal muscles along with brain pain matrices activity in response to restorative neurostimulation therapy.