Unobstructed Shortest Paths in Polyhedral Environments

Book excerpt: The first examination of the cervical spine is always made using standard radiographs and, often enough, this suffices as a basis for diagnosis. Malformations, tumours, and more frequently traumas, rheumatism, and even ordinary neck pain require radiological examination of the spine. Interpretation, however, is difficult. Take a cervical vertebra in your hand and you will see that it is complex enough itself. In radiology the overlapping pieces of bone, summation phenomena and the diversity of viewing angles complicate interpretation of the images still further. The book by J.-F. Bonneville and F. Cattin suggests an original method of reading the radiographs, strict but very attractive, which considerably simplifies the interpretation of images of the cervical spine. This book shows that two- or threedimensional computed tomograms accompany standard radiographs as an excellent aid to comprehension. It is as though the reader had access to each part of the bony anatomy shown in the radiographs and from then on everything becomes easy, superimpositions disappear, traps become visible, anatomy triumphs, the image lives.