Detection of vertebra endplates in digital radiography

#1. Technical Field

#This disclosure relates to radiographic imaging, and more particularly, to a system and method for detecting vertebra endplates in radiographic images.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

#This disclosure will present in detail the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:

#FIG. 1A is a block/flow diagram showing a system/method for detecting endplate positions and orientations in accordance with the present invention;

#The present invention provides automatic detection of vertebra endplates for measuring Cobb's angle, wedge angles, and tilt angles, which may be employed in, for example, deformity analysis of pathological spines in digital radiography. The automatic detection makes automatic measurement and quantification possible for both diagnosis purposes and surgery planning.

#The invention provides an evidentiary reasoning approach to detect endplates. Local evidence of different kinds are first derived. This information is then combined, together with some global constraints, to derive a consistent and robust detection method and system. Gaps, such as those resulting from weak endplate edges, can be filled in automatically, whereas conflicts among pieces of local evidence are resolved by a top-down method using general knowledge of vertebra shapes.

#Endplates are one important anatomical feature used in deformity analysis of spines by radiologists. The present invention defines and computes different kinds of local evidence about the presence of an endplate at an image point. This evidence is then combined with some prior knowledge about vertebra shape to provide physicians with an objective and accurate tool for making diagnostic measurement and pre-surgery planning, for example.