Method and system for the computerized radiographic analysis of bone

Abstract

A computerized method and system for the radiographic analysis of bone structure and risk of future fracture with or without the measurement of bone mass. Techniques including texture analysis for use in quantitating the bone structure and risk of future fracture. The texture analysis of the bone structure incorporates directionality information, for example in terms of the angular dependence of the RMS variation and first moment of the power spectrum of a ROI in the bony region of interest. The system also includes using dual energy imaging in order to obtain measures of both bone mass and bone structure with one exam. Specific applications are given for the analysis of regions within the vertebral bodies on conventional spine radiographs. Techniques include novel features that characterize the power spectrum of the bone structure and allow extraction of directionality features with which to characterize the spatial distribution and thickness of the bone trabeculae. These features are then merged using artificial neural networks in order to yield a likelihood of risk of future fracture. In addition, a method and system is presented in which dual-energy imaging techniques are used to yield measures of both bone mass and bone structure with one low-dose radiographic examination; thus, making the system desirable for screening (for osteoporosis and risk of future fracture).

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