José María Gonzalez Ruiz

• PhD
• PostDoc Fellowships at University of Alberta and Humboldt Foundation

OsteogenesisImperfecta (OI) is a rare disease with respiratory problems, which are usually attributed to the secondary effects of scoliosis and rib fractures and to severe restrictive pulmonary disease. Conventional morphometry has already been studied in OI patients but three-dimensional geometric morphometrics (3D GMM) has never been used to asse...

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a three-dimensional lateral and torsional deformity of the spine, affecting up to 5% of the population. Traditional scoliosis screening methods exhibit limited accuracy, leading to unnecessary referrals and exposure to ionizing radiation from x-ray examinations. The 3D markerless surface topography (ST) tech...

Background: Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) is a common spinal deformity affecting 0.5% to 5.2% of children worldwide, with a higher reported range in Spain (0.7–7.5%). Early detection through screening is crucial to prevent the progression of mild cases to severe deformities. Clinical methods such as the ADAM test and trunk rotation angle (TRA) are wide...

Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is a complex 3D condition that affects the shape of the torso by increasing bilateral asymmetries. To analyse the 3D torso shape and consequently the severity of scoliosis, markerless surface topography (ST) has been successfully applied in combination with asym�metry contour maps. The main benefits are a red...

Purpose There is strong evidence supporting the presence of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in Adolescents with Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS). Additionally, recent research investigating the relationship between vitamin D and AIS found a relation between them. We hypothesize a negative correlation between FA and vitamin D. Methods We performed a surface s...

This paper presents an updated view on the morphological and functional significance of the human respiratory system in the context of human evolutionary anatomy. While usually the respiratory system is treated either from a craniofacial perspective, mostly in the context of nasal evolution and air-conditioning, or from a postcranial perspective fe...

This paper presents a proof of concept in the study of human respiratory motion from a palaeoanthropological approach. The hybrid methodology proposed merges Motion Capture techniques (optoelectronic plethysmography) with 3D geometric morphometrics of the superior torso surface during incremental running exercise. Results reveal the importance of t...

This study investigates the contribution of external trunk morphology and posture to running performance in an evolutionary framework. It has been proposed that the evolution from primitive to derived features of torso shape involved changes from a mediolaterally wider into a narrower, and antero-posteriorly deeper into a shallower, more lightly bu...

The presence of directional and fluctuating asymmetry in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis has not been deeply studied. We aimed to test the presence of both in a scoliosis group and a control group. 24 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and 24 control subjects were subjected to geometric morphometrics analyses to address our main hypothes...

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is an indicator of developmental instability referred to random deviations from mean asymmetry. That average asymmetry is the directional asymmetry (DA), which, in the particular case of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), corresponds to a right thoracic and left lumbar curves. Investigating the presence of FA and DA i...

Objective: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is the most prevalent type of scoliosis, and its consequences on the human torso have not been deeply studied. In spite of being a 3D condition, clinical management is circumscribed to 2D images among health-care professionals. GMM is a well-recognized tool in the study of 3D shape and symmetry. Methods:...

The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that ribs shape changes in patients with OI aremore relevant for respiratory function than thoracic spine shape. We used 3D geometric morphometricsto quantify rib cage morphology in OI patients and controls, and to investigate its relationship with forcedvital capacity (FVC) and forced expirat...

Geometric Morphometrics applied to the study of scoliosis in osteogenesis imperfecta