Apparatus and corresponding method for measuring lumbar spine

An apparatus comprising:

• image segmentation circuitry comprising neural network architecture configured to apply filters for feature extraction and classification to generate segmented intervertebral discs (IVDs);
• one or more processors to measure lumbar spine based, at least in part, on cross-sectional area and center of mass of the segmented IVDs, wherein the image segmentation circuitry provides the segmented IVDs to the one or more processors, and wherein the one or more processors are to:
• compute a first width of a first disc;
• compute a first disc height of the first disc based on pixel area and the first width by calculating the first disc height as pixel area divided by the first width;
• compute a second width of a second disc;
• compute a second disc height of the second disc based on pixel area and the second width by calculating the second disc height as pixel area divided by the second width, wherein the one or more processors are to compute the first disc height and the second disc height by rotation of the first disc and the second disc such that the first disc and the second disc are normal to a reading frame, and by creation of a first bounding box around the first disc and a second bounding box around the second disc in response to rotating the first disc and the second disc;
• report generation circuitry configured to receive the computed measurements from the one or more processors and generate clinical diagnostic reports containing disc measurements and comparisons to normative data;
• and
• display circuitry configured to present the clinical diagnostic reports to healthcare providers.

A system comprising:

• image segmentation circuitry comprising neural network architecture configured to generate segmented intervertebral discs (IVDs) by applying filters for feature extraction and classification to medical imaging data;
• one or more memories;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and the image segmentation circuitry, wherein the image segmentation circuitry receives the medical imaging data and generates the segmented IVDs using the neural network architecture, and wherein the one or more processors are to:
• receive images of the segmented IVDs from the image segmentation circuitry;
• identify a first disc and a second disc from the images of the segmented IVDs, wherein the second disc is a caudal neighbor of the first disc;
• compute a centroid and an orientation for the first disc and the second disc from the images of segmented IVDs;
• compute a first width of the first disc;
• compute a first disc height of the first disc based on pixel area and the first width by calculating the first disc height as pixel area divided by the first width;
• compute a second width of the second disc;
• compute a second disc height of the second disc based on pixel area and the second width by calculating the second disc height as pixel area divided by the second width, wherein the one or more processors are to compute the first disc height and the second disc height by rotation of the first disc and the second disc such that the first disc and the second disc are normal to a reading frame, and by creation of a first bounding box around the first disc and a second bounding box around the second disc in response to rotating the first disc and the second disc, and wherein the first width is a width of the first bounding box and the second width is a width of the second bounding box;
• report generation circuitry configured to receive computed measurements from the one or more processors and generate clinical diagnostic reports with disc measurements and normative comparisons;
• and
• display circuitry configured to receive the clinical diagnostic reports and present annotated images with measurements to clinicians.