Tool to diagnose osteoarthritis

A technique used to detect land mines could soon help rheumatologists and radiologists diagnose osteoarthritis and cervical cancer, thanks in part to the efforts of a University of Missouri-Rolla researcher.

For the past five years, Dr Joe Stanley, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UMR, has been using image analysis and processing techniques to study human cervical and lumbar spine x-rays.

"I'm identifying key attributes that can be used to characterise osteoarthritis," Stanley says.

"The goal is to develop a general search engine that rheumatologists, radiologists and other health care professionals could access to query different x-rays to use in their own practice."

Stanley is working with radiologist at Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla, Mo, and other specialists in St Louis to ascertain what features they look at when determining if patients have osteoarthritis, such as disk narrowing or bony growths on the vertebrae.

His work will provide a semi-automated approach for segmenting vertebrae in the x-rays, allowing radiologists to select points of interest to highlight.

Ultimately, the tool could serve as a teaching aid, giving health care professionals x-ray examples to compare to their own patients and helping to diagnose and guide treatment plans.