Diagnostic software proposal for bone scan follow-up using false color based on the gammagrams analysis from gray tone histograms

In this work we introduce a technique to speed up the interpretation of bone scans with the aim of determining the presence of absence of metastatic disease. We use gray tone histograms resembling the use of pass band filters, in order to ensure a reliable interpretation of the bone scan, providing an accurate diagnosis. We draw particular attention to three cases. The first case corresponds to shifted histograms. If the histogram is shifted toward the origin, the bone scan is free of metastasis. If it is shifted to the right and slightly broadened, indicates the presence of a bone scan anomaly different than metastasis. On the other hand, if the histogram is broadened and shifted to the left, is suggests the presence of metastatic disease. The second case corresponds to a histogram with noticeable fluctuations, indicating the presence of metastasis. Such fluctuations could become local maxima peaks indicating the advance of the metastasis. The third case, corresponds to the false color results displayed in terms of the gray tones observed in the histogram. Such false color is assigned from the construction of a 7-color palette selected in terms of the gray tones range, easing the ad hoc false color assignation for visualization purposes. The final diagnosis is carried out in terms of the color, geometry, extension and location of the region of interest in the images. Our proposed technique has the potential to be used in high-demand oncology centers due to its simplicity and diagnostic efficiency, confirmed and tested by specialists in the Centro Medico Siglo XXI (CDMX-Mexico).