Statistics Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
6-1-1991
Publication Source
SPIE Proceedings
Volume
1452
DOI
10.1117/12.45385
Abstract
We described a method for automatically identifying and separating pixels representing bone from those representing soft tissue in a dual- energy point-scanned projection radiograph of the abdomen. In order to achieve stable quantitative measurement of projected bone mineral density, a calibration using sample bone in regions containing only soft tissue must be performed. In addition, the projected area of bone must be measured. We show that, using an image with a realistically low noise, the histogram of pixel values exhibits a well-defined peak corresponding to the soft tissue region. A threshold at a fixed multiple of the calibration segment value readily separates bone from soft tissue in a wide variety of patient studies. Our technique, which is employed in the Hologic QDR-1000 Bone Densitometer, is rapid, robust, and significantly simpler than a conventional artificial intelligence approach using edge-detection to define objects and expert systems to recognize them.
Copyright/Permission Statement
Copyright 1991 Society of Photo Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.
Recommended Citation
Shepp, L. A., Vardi, Y., Lazewatsky, J., Libeau, J., & Stein, J. A. (1991). Automatic Recognition of Bone for X-Ray Bone Densitometry. SPIE Proceedings, 1452 http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.45385
Date Posted: 27 November 2017