Segmentation, visualization and quantification of knee joint articular cartilage using MR images

Abstract

Knee is a complex and highly stressed joint of the human body. Articular cartilage is a smooth hyaline spongy material between the tibia and femur bones of knee joint. The change in cartilage morphology is an important biomarker to study the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the modality widely used to image the knee joint because of its non ionization effect and soft tissue contrast. In the present work a semiautomatic algorithm is developed for segmentation of articular cartilage from knee MR images. Segmented cartilage is visualized in 2D and 3D. Cartilage thickness is measured in different regions of femur and total volume of the cartilage is computed from the sequence of MR images. The cartilage thickness measurement and visualization is of diagnostic use for early detection and assessment of progression of the disease in case of OA affected patients. © 2013 Springer.