Automated segmentation of knee and ankle regions of rats from CT images to quantify bone mineral density for monitoring treatments of rheumatoid arthritis

Bone mineral density (BMD) obtained from a CT image is an imaging biomarker used pre-clinically for characterizing the Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) phenotype. We use this biomarker in animal studies for evaluating disease progression and for testing various compounds. In the current setting, BMD measurements are obtained manually by selecting the regions of interest from three-dimensional (3-D) CT images of rat legs, which results in a laborious and low-throughput process. Combining image processing techniques, such as intensity thresholding and skeletonization, with mathematical techniques in curve fitting and curvature calculations, we developed an algorithm for quick, consistent, and automatic detection of joints in large CT data sets. The implemented algorithm has reduced analysis time for a study with 200 CT images from 10 days to 3 days and has improved the robust detection of the obtained regions of interest compared with manual segmentation. This algorithm has been used successfully in over 40 studies.