Patent ID: 6674883
Filing Date: 2004-01-06
Classification: A61B,A61F

Abstract:
A method for automatically detecting anatomical landmarks in a radiographic image of a hip, comprising the steps of:providing a radiographic image of a pelvis region; generating an intensity ridge map to highlight ridges in one direction; determining a position of a leg in the image by employing a strongest ridge in the ridge map to approximate the leg orientation and position; determining inner contour lines of a femur of the leg in the image based on a position and orientation of the strongest vertical ridge; determining outer surface lines of the femur based on a position and orientation of the inner contour lines and the ridge map; determining points of maximum curvature on a femoral head of the femur and tracing the femoral head by employing the ridge map; determining a center of the femoral head; and selecting a prosthesis based on the inner contour lines, the points of maximum curvature and the center of the femoral head.