Patent ID: 6226393
Filing Date: 2001-05-01
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A method for estimating the bone quality or skeletal status of a vertebrate on the basis of two-dimensional image data comprising information relating to the cortical bone of at least a part of a bone of the vertebrate, the image data being data obtained by exposing at least the part of the bone to electromagnetic radiation, the method comprising:determining at least one value representing a variation of a density of cortical bone of the at least part of the bone,an estimation procedure in which the bone quality or skeletal status of the vertebrate is estimated on the basis of1) the at least one variation value, and2) optionally one or more features related to the bone of the vertebrate, and3) a predetermined relationship betweenI) the at least one variation value andII) optional feature(s) andIII) reference skeletal status or bone quality parameters, wherein the determined value is determined from a grey value difference between oblong density variations in the image data and other parts of the image data the oblong density variations extending at least in a longitudinal direction of the bone.