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US 7,239,908 B1Granted
Assessing the condition of a joint and devising treatment
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorsEugene J. Alexander, Thomas P. Andriacchi, Philipp Lang, Daniel Steines
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods are disclosed for assessing the condition of a cartilage in a joint, particularly a human knee. The methods include converting an image such as an MRI to a three dimensional map of the cartilage. The cartilage map can be correlated to a movement pattern of the joint to assess the affect of movement on cartilage wear. Changes in the thickness of cartilage over time can be determined so that therapies can be provided. Information on thickness of cartilage and curvature of cartilage or subchondral bone can be used to plan therapy. Information on movement pattern can be used to plan therapy.
Claims140
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartigage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating the joint along one or more vectors tangent or perpendicular to the cartilage or bone surface;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
The method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating the joint along one or more vectors tangent or perpendicular to the cartilage or bone surface;
- and
- determining at least one of size and shape for at least one of a transplant, a graft, an implant, a replacement material, a scaffold, a regenerating material and a repair system based on said three dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
The method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating the joint along one or more vectors tangent or perpendicular to the cartilage or bone surface;
- and
- designing a therapy based on said three dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
The method of treating a human joint disease involoving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about volume, area, thickness, curvature, water content, sodium content, hyaluronic acid content, glycosaminoglycan content, signal intensity or relaxation time of said normal or diseased tissue, or three dimensional geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating said image data along one or more vectors tangent or perpendicular to the cartilage or bone surface surface;
- and
- selecting or designing a therapy based on said three dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
A method of trating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating further including:
- estimating the loss of cartilage in a joint, wherein the joint coprises cartilage and accompanying bones on either side of the joint, which method comprises,
- obtaining a three-demensional representation of the cartilage at an initial time and calculating the thickness or regional volume of a region of degenerated cartilage evaluated at the initial time,
- obtaining a three-dimensional representation of the cartilage at a later time,
- calculating the thickness or regional volume of a region of degenerated cartilage evaluated at the later time, and
- determining the loss in thickness or regional volume of the region of degenerated cartilage between the later and initial times;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
6 more elements
A method of trating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating further including:
- determining the volume of cartilage loss in a region of a cartilage defect of a cartilage in a joint of a mammal which method comprises,
- determining the thickness, DN, of the normal cartilage near the cartilage defect,
- obtaining the thickness of the cartilage defect, DD, of the region,
- subtracting DD form DD to give the thickness of the cartilage loss, DD, and
- multiplying the DL value time the area of the cartilage defect, AD, to give the volume of cartilage loss;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
6 more elements
The method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and disease cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating further including:
- estimating the change of cartilage in a joint of a mammal over time, which method comprises,
- estimating the thickness or width or area or volume of a region of cartilage at an initial time T1,
- estimating the thickness or width or area or volume of the region of cartilage at a later time T2, and
- determining the change in the thickness or width or area or volume of the region of cartilage between the initial and the later times;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
5 more elements
A method of treating a human joint diseas involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating further including:
- providing a biochemically based representation of joint cartilage of a mammal, wherein the joint comprises cartilage and associated bones on either side of the joint, which method comprises,
- measuring a detectable biochemical component in the cartilage,
- determining the relative amounts of the biochemical component in the cartilage,
- evaluating the amounts of the biochemical component in three dimensions in the cartilage, and
- determining the areas of abnormally joint cartilage by indentifying the area having altered amounts of the biochemical component present;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
6 more elements
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a join, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electroncally evaluating further including:
- estimating the change of cartilage in a joint, wherein the joint comprises articular cartilage, which method comprises,
- defining a 3D object coordinate system of the joint at an initial time, T1,
- identifying a region of a cartilage defect within the 3D object coordinate system,
- defining a volume of interest around the region of the cartilage defect whereby the volume of interest is larger than the region of cartilage defect, but does not encompass the entire articular cartilage,
- defining the 3D object coordinate system of the joint at a second timepoint, T2,
- placing the identically-sized volume of interest into the 3D object coordinate system at timepoint T2 using the object coordinates of the volume of interest at timepoint T1, and
- measuring any differences in cartilage volume within the volume of interest between timepoints T1 and T2;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
8 more elements
A method of treating a human joint diseas involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electornic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating further including:
- correlating cartilage image data, bone image data, and optoelectrical image data for the assessment of the condition of a joint, which method comprises,
- (a) obtaining the cartilage image data of the joint with a set of skin reference markers placed externally near the joint,
- (b) obtaining the bone image data of the joint with a set of skin reference markers positioned in the same manner as the markers in (a),
- (c) obtaining the optoelectrical image data of the joint with a set of skin reference markers positioned in the same manner as (a) and (b), and
- (d) using the skin reference markers to correlate the images obtained in (a), (b) and (c) with each other, wherein each skin reference marker is detectable in the cartilage and bone data and the opto-electrical data;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
6 more elements
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic data associated with an image of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three-dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating cartilage or bone in said image along at least three vectors, at least one of the vectors being non-coplanar and non-parallel with at least two of the other vectors defining a vector plane;
- and
- selecting or designing a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining electronic image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions cartilage or bone in said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint at a first point and a second point, wherein information related to the first point is derived based on at least one point of the joint that forms, with the first point, a first vector, wherein information related to the second point is derived based on at least one point of the joint that forms, with the second point, a second vector, and wherein the first and second vectors are non-coplanar and non-parallel;
- and
- selecting or designing a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
A method of treating a joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- imaging a joint on an imaging plane to obtain electronic image data, the image data including both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating cartilage or bone in said image along a vector that is non-parallel to the imaging plane;
- and
- selecting or designing a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining CT or MRI image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating the joint along at least two non-parallel planes ;
- and
- selecting a therapy based on said three-dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining CT or MM image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating said joint along at least two non-parallel planes;
- and
- determining at least one of size and shape for at least one of a transplant, a graft, an implant, a replacement material, a scaffold, a regenerating material and a repair system based on said three dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining CT or MRI image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating said joint along at least two non-parallel planes;
- and
- designing a therapy based on said three dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
A method of treating a human joint disease involving cartilage comprising:
- obtaining CT or MRI image data of a joint, wherein said image data includes both normal and diseased cartilage tissue;
- electronically evaluating in three dimensions said image data to obtain information about volume, area, thickness, curvature, water content, sodium content, hyaluronic acid content, glycosaminoglycan content, signal intensity or relaxation time of said normal or diseased tissue, or three dimensional geometry of the joint, said electronically evaluating including evaluating said joint along at least two non-parallel planes;
- and
- selecting or designing a therapy based on said three dimensional evaluation.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.