Comparison of Manual and Semi-automated Method in Measurement of Joint Space Width Measurement in Feet Region of RA Patients

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic life-threatening disorder and affects the body’s self immune system and invades the smaller and larger joints. There are different modern imaging techniques used such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and colour Doppler ultrasound were used to evaluate the inflammatory conditions in RA. Still radiography (X-ray) was investigated as the best method in diagnosis of RA. X-ray imaging has been the easiest and most used method of diagnosis of any abnormalities in the hard tissues of the human body. The study aimed as follows (i) to perform a manual and semi-automated segmentation of feet region in the total population studied. (ii) To compute the features extracted from the joint space width, joint space narrowing and erosion in the feet. The analysis of X-ray images was performed using manual method (DICOM viewer) and semi-automated method using Mimics software. The SPSS statistical analysis software was used to calculate mean standard deviation and standard deviation error and further plotted accordingly. There was a significant differences found between the manual and semi-automated methods. Furthermore, it was inferred that the semi-automated method showed more precise readings of the joint space narrowing in RA and normal feet and should be used more extensively for further study.