Systems and methods for computer aided detection of spinal curvature using images and angle measurements
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- automatically displaying curvature of a spine as a line in an image of the spine;
wherein automatically displaying the curvature of the spine comprises;
improving contrast of the image of the spine by generating a mask of the spine and improving the contrast of vertebrae of the spine, wherein generating a mask of the spine comprises finding a region of interest, wherein finding a region of interest comprises;
dividing the image into a plurality of slices, wherein a width of each slice is equal to a width of the image; and
a height of each slice is a predetermined number of times smaller than a height of the image;
for each slice, equalizing a histogram to spread the intensity distribution and applying a threshold of a predetermined percentage of a maximum intensity to raise the contrast;
shifting each of the slices by one tenth of the height of the slice;
repeating the steps of dividing, equalizing and shifting a predetermined number of times, obtaining a set of results; and
calculating a mean of the set of results.
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Abstract
A method for providing automatic detection of curvature of a spine and computation of specific angles in images of the spine includes automatically displaying the curvature of the spine as a line in an image of the spine, and computing at least one of a first angle or a second angle based on the line of the curvature of the spine.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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automatically displaying curvature of a spine as a line in an image of the spine;
wherein automatically displaying the curvature of the spine comprises;improving contrast of the image of the spine by generating a mask of the spine and improving the contrast of vertebrae of the spine, wherein generating a mask of the spine comprises finding a region of interest, wherein finding a region of interest comprises; dividing the image into a plurality of slices, wherein a width of each slice is equal to a width of the image; and
a height of each slice is a predetermined number of times smaller than a height of the image;for each slice, equalizing a histogram to spread the intensity distribution and applying a threshold of a predetermined percentage of a maximum intensity to raise the contrast; shifting each of the slices by one tenth of the height of the slice; repeating the steps of dividing, equalizing and shifting a predetermined number of times, obtaining a set of results; and calculating a mean of the set of results. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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17. A method, comprising:
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automatically displaying curvature of a spine as a line in an image of the spine, wherein automatically displaying the curvature of the spine comprises; improving contrast of the image of the spine; detecting boundaries of the spine from the improved image;
wherein detecting boundaries of the spine from the improved image comprises;applying a threshold to the contrast-enhanced image; doing a region labeling of a binary representation of the contrast-enhanced image and selecting the spine; along each row of the spine region, storing a minimum and maximum x-coordinates in two right and left vectors; and smoothing the two vectors with the minimum and maximum x-coordinates using a smoothing window of a predetermined height, wherein the predetermined height is tenth of the image height.
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23. A system comprising:
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a memory device for storing a program; a processor in communication with the memory device, the processor operative with the program to; automatically display curvature of a spine as a line in an image of the spine; divide the image into a plurality of slices, wherein a width of each slice is equal to a width of the image, and wherein a height of each slice is a predetermined number of times smaller than a height of the image; for each slice, equalize a histogram to spread the intensity distribution and apply a threshold of a predetermined percentage of a maximum intensity to raise the contrast; shift each of the slices by one tenth of the height of the part; repeat the steps of dividing, equalizing and shifting a predetermined number of times to obtain a set of results; and calculate a mean of the set of results. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification