1. A method for segmenting vertebrae in digitized images comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of digitized whole-body images, each said image comprising a plurality of intensities corresponding to a 3-dimensional grid of points; detecting and segmenting a spinal cord using 3D polynomial spinal model in each of said plurality of images; finding a height of each vertebrae in each image from intensity projections along said spinal cord; and building a parametric model of a vertebrae from said plurality of images.