Texture analysis of direct magnification radiographs of vertebral specimens: correlation with bone mineral density and biomechanical properties.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES The authors used direct magnification radiographs, combines with texture analysis, to investigate the trabecular structure of human vertebral specimens and compared these techniques with measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) by using quantitative computed tomography to predict bone strength. METHODS Direct magnification radiographs and BMD measurements were obtained from 38 motion segments from the thoracolumbar spines of 11 female human cadavers. Maximum compressive strength (MCS) was determined with a materials testing machine. Morphologic parameters, digital skeletons, and fractal dimension were obtained from the radiographs in three different regions of interest. RESULTS Correlations between BMD and MCS were statistically significant (r = .81, P < .01). With morphologic parameters, correlation coefficients of up to .64 (P < .01) were obtained. Use of multivariate regression analysis with one morphologic parameter (the width of the black pixels, or thicknessB) in addition to BMD improved correlations versus MCS (P < .01). CONCLUSION In an experimental setting, BMD showed statistically significant correlation with bone strength, whereas the structural parameters demonstrated only modest correlations. BMD together with one of these measures (thicknessB), however, showed the highest correlation.

[1]  S. Cummings,et al.  Bone density at various sites for prediction of hip fractures , 1993, The Lancet.

[2]  Y H Chang,et al.  Fractal Analysis of Trabecular Patterns in Projection Radiographs: An Assessment , 1994, Investigative radiology.

[3]  W G Geraets,et al.  Longitudinal analysis of radiographic trabecular pattern by image processing. , 1995, Bone.

[4]  S. Cummings,et al.  Risk factors for hip fracture in white women. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. , 1995, The New England journal of medicine.

[5]  P. Croucher,et al.  Quantitative analysis of trabecular bone structure. , 1993, Bone.

[6]  Richard C. Dubes,et al.  Performance evaluation for four classes of textural features , 1992, Pattern Recognit..

[7]  R. Huiskes,et al.  Mechanical and textural properties of pelvic trabecular bone. , 1993, Journal of biomechanics.

[8]  M. Underweiser,et al.  On the fractal nature of trabecular structure. , 1994, Medical physics.

[9]  E. Gelsema,et al.  Estimation of fractal dimension in radiographs. , 1996, Medical physics.

[10]  H. Gundersen,et al.  Biologically meaningful determinants of the in vitro strength of lumbar vertebrae. , 1991, Bone.

[11]  S A Goldstein,et al.  The relationship between the structural and orthogonal compressive properties of trabecular bone. , 1994, Journal of biomechanics.

[12]  T. Ishida,et al.  Trabecular Pattern Analysis Using Fractal Dimension , 1993 .

[13]  C. Netelenbos,et al.  A new method for automatic recognition of the radiographic trabecular pattern , 1990, Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

[14]  Rockoff Sd.  Radiographic trabecular quantitation of human lumbar vertebrae in situ. I. Theory and method for study of osteoporosis. , 1967 .

[15]  E. Rummeny,et al.  Artificial bone erosions: detection with magnification radiography versus conventional high-resolution radiography. , 1994, Radiology.

[16]  M. Giger,et al.  Multifractal radiographic analysis of osteoporosis. , 1994, Medical physics.

[17]  P Brinckmann,et al.  Prediction of the compressive strength of human lumbar vertebrae. , 1989, Clinical biomechanics.

[18]  S. Majumdar,et al.  Application of fractal geometry techniques to the study of trabecular bone. , 1993, Medical physics.

[19]  K. Wolschendorf,et al.  Knochenstrukturanalyse mit eindimensionaler Fouriertransformation , 1994 .

[20]  William M. O'Fallon,et al.  Effect of fluoride treatment on the fracture rate in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. , 1990 .

[21]  S. Pors Nielsen,et al.  Bone mineral content of the lumbar spine in normal and osteoporotic women: cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. , 1982, Clinical science.

[22]  M. Giger,et al.  Computerized radiographic analysis of osteoporosis: preliminary evaluation. , 1993, Radiology.

[23]  M. Reiser,et al.  Osteologie aktuell VIII , 1993 .