Today's current spinal instability test—standard bending x-rays of the spine—requires measuring spine motion from static x-rays by hand. This test is ordered 5 million times per year in the US, more than spine CT and MR imaging combined.
Unlike traditional bending x-rays of the spine in which patients are free to bend as much or as little as they want, VMA testing assist patients through a complete spine bend, helping to gently overcome the "guarding" that often occurs during painful spine bending, helping to assure instability does not go undetected.
VMA testing was validated in the largest level 1 Evidence study of its kind to be 500% more sensitive in detecting lumbar radiographic instability, but just as specific.
VMA test results are uploaded to cloud servers where they are processed to produce motion measurements that can assess instability. Instability testing results and video x-ray (fluoro) images of spine motion are available within hours via any internet connected computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Online surgeon tools can be helpful in interactions with insurance companies to get spine surgery approved, and the videos overlaid with quantitative diagnostic data can make patient consults more effective.