Virtual performance assessment of 3D quantification systems

This work presents a system for realistic computer simulations of quantification systems from three-dimensional (3D) medical images. The system is based on accurate computer models of anatomical parts derived from 3D medical images. The models can be realistically manipulated in the virtual domain reflecting actual scan-rescan situations. The manipulated object can be used to reconstruct 3D images. Furthermore, the model can be used to simulate observer segmentations of the reconstructed anatomy. Because segmentations are fundamental for comprehensive quantification of anatomical structures quantifications performances can be derived from the simulated segmentations. The proposed simulation system has been used to predict joint space width variations between two different imaging protocols without the need of analyzing several volunteers' scans. The system has been used to predict intra observer performance helping in the selection of the best imaging protocol. Performance results and comparison with actual scan rescan performance evaluations are presented.