Cervical vertebra angle measurement

1. A method of determining an impact to cerebral spinal fluid flow to and from a patient's brain based on a degree of axial rotational alignment between a selected CI or C2 vertebra of the patient's neck and the patient's surrounding anatomy, using an upright magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

(a) generating a magnetic resonance (MR) image of the patient in a standing or sitting position using a computing device and an imaging coil of the apparatus, wherein the imaging coil comprises:

a saddle coil with anterior-posterior field sensitivity and having a length that permits for a center of the coil to reach the patient's cranial-cervical joint when slid over the patient's head: and

a solenoid coil nested within the saddle element including a pair of rings, wherein a space between the pair of rings is adapted to position a highest signal-to-noise of the solenoid coil at the patient's cranial-cervical junction;

(b) identifying, in the MR image, two or more features of the selected vertebra of the patient's neck,

(c) determining a first axis connecting the identified features of the selected vertebra,

(d) identifying, in the MR image, two or more features of the patient's surrounding anatomy that are not the selected vertebra,

(e) determining a second axis connecting the identified features of the patient's surrounding anatomy, wherein the second axis represents a sagittal plane of the patient, measuring an angular difference between the first and second axes, wherein

(f) the angular difference is indicative of an orientation of the selected vertebra relative to the sagittal plane of the patient, and

(g) determining the degree of axial rotational alignment of the selected vertebra based on the measured angular difference.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected vertebra is a C-2 vertebra and the MR image shows the C-2 vertebra along an axial plane of the patient.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the two or more features of the selected vertebra comprise anterior-most prominences of the cortical bone of the C-2 vertebra.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the two or more features of the selected vertebra comprise posterior-most prominences of the cortical bone of the C2 vertebra.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second axis extends along a sagittal plane of the patient.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the two or more features of the patient's surrounding anatomy comprise at least one of the nasal septum of the patient and the vertex of the uvula of the patient.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the two or more features of the patient's surrounding anatomy comprise a center of the axis of rotation of the C2 vertebra.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected vertebra is a C-1 vertebra and the MR image shows the C-1 vertebra along an axial plane of the patient.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the two or more features of the selected vertebra comprise the margins of the anterior-most prominences of the cortical bone of the C-1 vertebra.

10. The method of the claim 8 , wherein the two or more features of the selected vertebra comprise the margins of the posterior-most prominences of the cortical bone of the C-1 vertebra.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second axis extends along the sagittal plane of the patient.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the two or more features of the patient's surrounding anatomy comprise at least one of the nasal septum of the patient and the vertex of the uvula of the patient.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the two or more features of the patient's surrounding anatomy comprise the dens center of the patient.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the two or more features of the patient's surrounding anatomy comprise the spinal cord center of the patient.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the degree of axial rotational alignment of the selected vertebra is based on the degree of perpendicularity between the first and second axes.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a MRI of the patient, the MRI showing a sagittal cross-section of the patient; and

selecting an initial locating axis on the image, the initial locating axis defining an axial plane of the patient on which the selected vertebra lies.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein a difference between (i) 90 degrees and (ii) the angular difference between the first and second axes is indicative of a degree of severity of an axial rotational malalignment.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a scout MR image of the patient using a computing device and the apparatus; and

selecting a line across the scout MR image intersecting each of the selected vertebra and the surrounding anatomical features,

wherein the MR image of the patient is generated at a plane parallel with the selected line.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the two or more features of the patient's surrounding anatomy is not included in any of the vertebra of the patient's spine.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging coil is positioned between a head coil position and a cervical belt coil position.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the imaging coil has a magnetic field sensitivity oriented to be used within the upright magnetic resonance imaging apparatus.