Granted Patent B2

US 8,126,240 · App. 11/884,166 · Granted Feb 28, 2012

Abstract

Claims (96)

1. A method of deriving an estimate of the extent of fracture in a vertebra by processing an image of part of a spine, comprising the steps of:

segmenting the image of at least two vertebrae in the spine to obtain data representative of the shape and size of each of the vertebrae;

reconstructing an approximation of the shape of a first of the vertebrae by:

comparing the shape and size data obtained for a second of the two vertebrae with a mathematical shape and size model of at least the same two vertebrae of an unfractured spine;

adapting the second vertebra in the model to fit the second imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra using the first vertebra of the adapted model;

comparing the shape and size of the first vertebra as imaged with the predicted unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the first vertebra.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

reconstructing an approximation of the shape and size of the second vertebra by:

comparing the data obtained for the first vertebra with the mathematical model;

adapting the first vertebra in the model to fit the first imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the second vertebra using the second vertebra of the adapted model;

comparing the shape and size of the second vertebra as imaged with the predicted unfractured shape and size of the second vertebra; and

computing the differences between the respective images of the first and second vertebrae to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 , further comprising the steps of:

segmenting the images of a third to nth vertebrae in the image of the spine to obtain data representative of the shape and size of the third to nth vertebrae;

reconstructing further approximations of the shape and size of the first vertebrae by:

comparing the data for the third vertebra with a mathematical model of at least the same n vertebrae of an unfractured spine;

adapting the third vertebra in the model to fit the third imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra using the first vertebra of the adapted model;

repeating the steps of adapting and predicting for each of the fourth to the nth vertebra to obtain n−1 predictions of the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra;

processing the n−1 predictions of the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra to obtain a single prediction of the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra representative of the n−1 predictions;

comparing the shape and size of the first vertebra as imaged with the single predicted unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising the steps of:

reconstructing an approximation of the shape and size of each of the n vertebrae by:

comparing each of the n vertebrae in turn with the mathematical model;

adapting the mathematical model to each of the other n−1 vertebrae in turn to obtain n−1 predictions of each of the vertebrae;

processing the n−1 predictions of the unfractured shape and size of each vertebrae to obtain a single prediction of the unfractured shape and size of each of the n vertebrae;

comparing the shape and size of each vertebra as imaged with the single predicted unfractured shape and size of the vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with an instruction set for deriving an estimate of the extent of fracture in a vertebra of a processed image of part of a spine, the instruction set comprising instructions for:

segmenting the image of at least two vertebrae in the spine to obtain data representative of the shape and size of each of the vertebrae;

reconstructing an approximation of the shape of a first of the vertebrae including:

comparing the shape and size data obtained for a second of the two vertebrae with a mathematical shape and size model of at least the same two vertebrae of an unfractured spine;

adapting the second vertebra in the model to fit the second imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra using the first vertebra of the adapted model;

comparing the shape and size of the first vertebra as imaged with the predicted unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the first vertebra.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with an instruction set as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising instructions for:

reconstructing an approximation of the shape and size of the second vertebra by:

comparing the data obtained for the first vertebra with the mathematical model;

adapting the first vertebra in the model to fit the first imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the second vertebra using the second vertebra of the adapted model;

comparing the shape and size of the second vertebra as imaged with the unfractured predicted shape and size of the second vertebra; and

computing the differences between the respective images of the first and second vertebrae to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with an instruction set as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 , further comprising instructions for:

segmenting the images of a third to nth vertebrae in the image of the spine to obtain data representative of the shape and size of the third to nth vertebrae;

reconstructing further approximations of the shape and size of the first vertebrae including:

comparing the data for the third vertebra with a mathematical model of at least the same n vertebrae of an unfractured spine;

adapting the third vertebra in the model to fit the third imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra using the first vertebra of the adapted model;

repeating the steps of adapting and predicting for each of the fourth to the nth vertebra to obtain n−1 predictions of the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra;

processing the n−1 predictions of the shape and size of the first vertebra to obtain a single prediction of the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra representative of the n−1 predictions;

comparing the shape and size of the first vertebra as imaged with the single predicted unfractured shape and size of the vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with an instruction set as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising instructions for:

reconstructing an approximation of the shape and size of each of the n vertebrae including:

comparing each of the n vertebrae in turn with the mathematical model;

adapting the mathematical model to each of the n−1 vertebrae in turn to obtain n−1 predictions of each of the vertebrae;

processing the n−1 predictions of the shape and size of each vertebrae to obtain a single prediction of the unfractured shape and size of each of the n vertebrae;

comparing the shape and size of each vertebra as imaged with the single predicted unfractured shape and size of the vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

9. A data processor for deriving an estimate of the extent of fracture in a vertebra of a processed image of part of a spine, having stored therein an instruction set comprising instructions for:

segmenting the image of at least two vertebrae in the spine to obtain data representative of the shape and size of each of the vertebrae;

reconstructing an approximation of the shape of a first of the vertebrae including:

comparing the shape and size data obtained for a second of the two vertebrae with a mathematical shape and size model of at least the same two vertebrae of an unfractured spine;

adapting the second vertebra in the model to fit the second imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra using the first vertebra of the adapted model;

comparing the shape and size of the first vertebra as imaged with the predicted unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the first vertebra.

10. A data processor as claimed in claim 9 , having stored therein further instructions for:

reconstructing an approximation of the shape and size of the second vertebra by:

comparing the data obtained for the first vertebra with the mathematical model;

adapting the first vertebra in the model to fit the first imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the second vertebra using the second vertebra of the adapted model;

comparing the shape and size of the second vertebra as imaged with the predicted unfractured shape and size of the second vertebra; and

computing the differences between the respective images of the first and second vertebrae to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

11. A data processor as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10 , having stored therein further instructions for:

segmenting the images of a third to nth vertebrae in the image of the spine to obtain data representative of the shape and size of the third to nth vertebrae;

reconstructing further approximations of the shape and size of the first vertebrae including:

comparing the data for the third vertebra with a mathematical model of at least the same n vertebrae of an unfractured spine;

adapting the third vertebra in the model to fit the third imaged vertebra with consequent changes to the remainder of the model; and

predicting the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra using the first vertebra of the adapted model;

repeating the steps of adapting and predicting for each of the fourth to the nth vertebra to obtain n−1 predictions of the unfractured shape and size of the first vertebra;

processing the n−1 predictions of the shape and size of the first vertebra to obtain a single prediction of the shape and size of the first vertebra representative of the n−1 predictions;

comparing the shape and size of the first vertebra as imaged with the single predicted unfractured shape and size of the vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set, of vertebrae.

12. A data processor as claimed in claim 11 , having stored therein further instructions for:

reconstructing an approximation of the shape and size of each of the n vertebrae including:

comparing each of the n vertebrae in turn with the mathematical model;

adapting the mathematical model to each of the n−1 vertebrae in turn to obtain n−1 predictions of each of the vertebrae;

processing the n−1 predictions of the shape and size of each vertebrae to obtain a single prediction of the unfractured shape and size of each of the n vertebrae;

comparing the shape and size of each vertebra as imaged with the single predicted unfractured shape and size of the vertebra; and

computing the difference between the respective images to obtain a result representative of the extent of fracture in the set of vertebrae.

Assignments (24)