Purpose

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes joint space narrowing (JSN) as a form of joint destruction. We developed an automatic system that can detect joint locations and compute the joint space difference index (JSDI), which was defined as the chronological change in JSN between two radiographs. This study aims to evaluate the application of “machine vision” for radiographic image of the finger joints.

Materials and methods

Fifteen RA patients with long-term sustained clinical low disease activity were recruited. All patients underwent hand radiography and power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS). The JSN was evaluated using the Genant-modified Sharp scoring (GSS) method and the automatic system. Synovial vascularity (SV) was assessed quantitatively using ultrasonography.

Results

There were no significant differences in the JSDI between the joints with JSN and those without JSN on GSS (p = 0.052). The JSDI of the joints with SV was significantly higher than those without SV (p = 0.043). The JSDI of the no therapeutic response group was significantly higher than those of the response group (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Our software can automatically evaluate temporal changes of JSN, which might free rheumatologists / radiologists from the burden of scoring hand radiography.

中文翻译：

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用于评估 X 光片上微小指关节间隙变窄进展的全自动定量软件：对长期持续临床低疾病活动性类风湿性关节炎患者的评估。

目的

类风湿性关节炎 (RA) 导致关节间隙变窄 (JSN) 作为关节破坏的一种形式。我们开发了一种自动系统，可以检测关节位置并计算关节空间差异指数 (JSDI)，该指数被定义为两张 X 光片之间 JSN 的时间变化。本研究旨在评估“机器视觉”在手指关节放射影像中的应用。

材料和方法

招募了 15 名具有长期持续临床低疾病活动性的 RA 患者。所有患者均接受了手部放射学检查和能量多普勒超声检查（PDUS）。JSN 使用 Genant 修改的 Sharp 评分 (GSS) 方法和自动系统进行评估。使用超声检查定量评估滑膜血管分布 (SV)。

结果

在GSS上有JSN的关节和没有JSN的关节之间的JSDI没有显着差异（p  = 0.052）。有 SV 的关节的 JSDI 显着高于没有 SV 的关节（p  = 0.043）。无治疗反应组的 JSDI 显着高于反应组 ( p  < 0.001)。

结论

我们的软件可以自动评估 JSN 的时间变化，这可能使风湿病学家/放射科医师免于为手部放射照相评分的负担。