An automated method to estimate femoral shape and mineral mass

Danilo Pietro Pau, Xinfeng Bao, Daniele Masala, Alberto Gnemmi, Rachel C. Entwistle, Dan Dragomir-Daescu

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Medical assessment of bone health often uses quantitative computed tomography (QCT) scans and requires a reliable segmentation of bone geometry from surrounding tissue for a quick determination of bone mineral mass. Because of its shape and position in the body, the femur is one of the most challenging bones to investigate. In the current study we developed a new automated way to accurately evaluate both the shape and the mineral mass of cadaveric femora. The results were achieved through a series of steps including the segmentation of bone tissue from sets of QCT images, the estimation of the bone's outer surface, the calculation of the volume enclosed, and finally the evaluation of bone mineral mass in a user-defined region. We compared our algorithms results to results obtain by expert manual segmentation and results obtained using other published methods. This new method has the potential to be used in the clinic with patient QCT scans as a fast and reliable tool for diagnostics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 9th IASTED International Conference on Biomedical Engineering, BioMed 2012
Pages612-617
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event9th IASTED International Conference on Biomedical Engineering, BioMed 2012 - Innsbruck, Austria
Duration: Feb 15 2012Feb 17 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 9th IASTED International Conference on Biomedical Engineering, BioMed 2012

Other

Other9th IASTED International Conference on Biomedical Engineering, BioMed 2012
Country/TerritoryAustria
CityInnsbruck
Period2/15/122/17/12

Keywords

  • Femur QCT
  • Femur shape
  • Finite element analyses (FEA)
  • Interactive 3-D model
  • Medical imaging
  • Mineral mass

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomedical Engineering

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