Kao EF, Lu CY, Wang CY, Yeh WC, Hsia PK. Fully automated determination of arch angle on weight-bearing foot radiograph.
Comput Methods Programs Biomed 2018;
154:79-88. [PMID:
29249349 DOI:
10.1016/j.cmpb.2017.11.009]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Revised: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Flatfeet can be evaluated by measuring the calcaneal-fifth metatarsal angle on a weight-bearing lateral foot radiograph. This study aimed to develop an automated method for determining the calcaneal-fifth metatarsal angle on weight-bearing lateral foot radiograph.
METHOD
The proposed method comprises four processing steps: (1) identification of the regions including the calcaneus and fifth metatarsal bones in a foot image; (2) delineation of the contours of the calcaneus and the fifth metatarsal; (3) determination of the tangential lines of the two bones from the contours; and (4) determination of the calcaneal-fifth metatarsal angle between the two tangential lines as arch angle.
RESULTS
The proposed method was evaluated using 300 weight-bearing lateral foot radiographs. The arch angles determined by the proposed method were compared with those measured by a radiologist, and the errors between the automatically and manually determined angles were used to evaluate the precision of the method. The average error in the proposed method was found to be 1.12° ± 1.57° In the study, in 73.33% of the cases, the arch angles could be determined automatically without redrawing any tangential lines; in 23.00% of the cases, the angles would be correctly determined by redrawing one of the tangential lines; further, in only 3.67% of the cases, both the calcaneal and fifth metatarsal tangential lines needed to be redrawn to determine the arch angles.
CONCLUSION
The results revealed that the proposed method has potential for assisting doctors in measuring the arch angles on weight-bearing lateral foot radiographs more efficiently.
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