Registration of ultrasound images for automated assessment of synovitis activity

Abstract

Ultrasound images of joints are used by doctors to assess a degree of synovitis activity, in diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Research on automation of synovitis assessment from ultrasound images is being conducted, with objectives of lowering medical costs and improving patients care. Analysis of synovitis area in an image should be done relative to the joint and bones, therefore the joint and bones must be located in the initial step. An approach is proposed for locating joint and bones, by registering structural descriptions of the joint region. A preliminary result is presented that includes a description of a registration method that iteratively improves the registration quality, and its application example based on synthetic data.