New anatomical reference systems for the bones of the foot and ankle complex: definitions and exploitation on clinical conditions

BACKGROUND: A complete definition of anatomical reference systems (ARS) for all bones of the foot and ankle complex is lacking. Using a morphological approach, we propose new ARS for these bones with the aim of being highly repeatable, consistent among individuals, clinically interpretable, and also suited for a sound kinematic description. METHODS: Three specimens from healthy donors and three patients with flat feet were scanned in weight-bearing CT. The foot bones were segmented and ARS defined according to the proposed approach. To assess repeatability, intra class coefficients (ICC) were computed both intra- and inter-operator. Consistency was evaluated as the mean of the standard deviations of the ARS position and orientation, both within normal and flat feet. Clinical interpretability was evaluated by providing a quantification of the curvature variation in the medial-longitudinal and transverse arches and computing the Djiann-Annonier angle for normal and flat feet from these new ARS axes. To test the capability to also provide a sound description of the foot kinematics, the alignment between mean helical axes (MHA) and ARS axes was quantified. RESULTS: ICC was 0.99 both inter- and intra-operator. Rotational consistency was 4.7 ± 3.5 ° and 6.2 ± 4.4° for the normal and flat feet, respectively; translational consistency was 4.4 ± 4.0 mm and 5.4 ± 2.9 mm for the normal and flat feet, respectively. In both these cases, the consistency was better than what was achieved by using principal axes of inertia. Curvature variation in the arches were well described and the measurements of the Djiann-Annoier angles from both normal and flat feet matched corresponding clinical observations. The angle between tibio-talar MHA and ARS mediolateral axis in the talus was 12.3 ± 6.0, while the angle between talo-calcaneal MHA and ARS anteroposterior axis in the calcaneus was 17.2 ± 5.6, suggesting good capability to represent joint kinematics. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed ARS definitions are robust and provide a solid base for the 3-dimensional description of posture and motion of the foot and ankle complex from medical imaging. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13047-021-00504-5.