Method and apparatus for determining bone mineral density
AssigneeCompuMed, Inc.
InventorsXiaoli Bi, David Edelstein, Brent J. Liu, Louai Al-Dayeh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for measuring bone density in a body part. The method and apparatus receive and process a digital image that includes at least one digit, a calibration wedge, and a target bone to compute the density of the target bone. Based on the digital image, a contour for the digit and the target bone are automatically extracted and displayed for the user. A user is then provided an opportunity to input information via an easy-to-use graphical user interface. The contour of the target bone is then automatically re-computed based on the user input. Then, the bone mineral density of the target bone is computed based on the re-computed contour of the target bone.
Claims20
In a system having a personal computer (PC) for executing programs and a scanner coupled to the PC for scanning images, a method for computing a bone mineral density value based on a digital image comprising the steps of:
- a) configuring the scanner to scan radiographs and to generate digital images based on the radiographs;
- wherein the digital images are qualified for radiographic absorptiometry bone density analysis;
- b) scanning a radiograph by utilizing the configured scanner to generate a qualified digital image;
- and
- c) automatically generating a bone mineral density value based on the qualified digital image.
An apparatus for determining bone density comprising:
- a scanner for scanning a radiograph and generating a digital image based on the radiograph, said digital image having at least one digit, said digit having a target bone, and a calibration wedge;
- a personal computer (PC) coupled to the scanner for receiving the digital image and for executing programs;
- and
- a bone analysis program when executing on the PC for receiving the digital image, automatically generating a digit contour, a calibration wedge contour, and a target bone contour from the digital image, and automatically displaying the digit contour, the contour of the calibration wedge, and the contour of the target bone for display.
An apparatus for determining bone density comprising:
- an x-ray source for generating x-rays;
- a digital panel having an array of x-ray detectors for receiving the x-rays and generating a digital image of an object being imaged, said digital imagehaving a digit with a target bone and a calibration wedge;
- a processor coupled to the scanner for receiving the digital image and for executing programs;
- and
- a bone analysis program when executing on the processor for receiving the digital image, automatically extracting a digit contour, a calibration wedge contour, and a target bone contour from the digital image, and automatically displaying the digit contour, the contour of the calibration wedge, and the contour of the target bone.
A method of determining a bone density measurement comprising:
- receiving an image having a target bone;
- automatically calculating a contour of the target bone from the image;
- and
- displaying the contour of the target bone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.