Patent ID: 6901280

Claim:
An orthopedic magnetic resonance imaging system, comprising: a source of magnetic resonance imaging data sets resulting from successive magnetic resonance imaging acquisitions from a diseased joint of a patient, wherein the source of magnetic resonance imaging data sets includes a magnetic resonance imaging system and a support assembly operative to immobilize the diseased joint within the magnetic resonance imaging system with the joint at a predetermined three-dimensional position, a segmentation module responsive to the source of magnetic resonance imaging data sets and operative to segment surfaces in the joint based on information contained within at least one of the data sets, a registration module responsive to the source of magnetic resonance imaging data sets and operative to spatially register, in three dimensions, information represented by a first of the data sets with respect to information represented by one or more further data sets for the same patient, and a comparison module responsive to the registration module and operative to detect differences between information represented by the data sets caused by progression of the disease in the joint of the patient between acquisitions.