Development and Validation of Image Processing Framework for Dynamic Quantitative Morphometric Analyses of Joint and Osteochondral Tissues

Abstract

Quantitative morphometric analysis (QMA) using micro-computed tomography (microCT) allows non-invasive assessment of structural degradation of joint tissues, such as bone and cartilage, during osteoarthritis (OA) progression in small animal knees. Whole-joint features, such as joint space width and joint alignment, were shown to provide sensitive markers of biomechanical changes due to OA. As elastic links, the relative position of joint components can vary. Combined with traditional manual image processing and analysis approaches that requires recalibration between studies, QMA of the joint often encounters reproducibility issues that are technically challenging and time-consuming to tackle..