X-rays are cheap compared to medical imaging techniques such as MRI, which requires expensive superconducting magnets. But X-rays give little information about soft tissues like cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Now, researchers at Cardiff University in the UK say they have a way of teasing this information from X-ray images.
A computer first analyses an X-ray picture by dividing it into regions according to naturally occurring boundaries in the image. The computer then compares the shape of these regions against a database of body parts. If a region of subtle shades matches the shape of a particular knee ligament, for example, the system assumes a match and identifies it as such. This provides a much clearer picture allowing an expert to identify damage to soft tissue as well as bones. So a relatively low cost X-ray image can help diagnose problems that would otherwise require more expensive imaging equipment.Justin Mullins, New Scientist consultant.
Read the full cheaper medical-imaging patent application
Labels: health, imaging