Early detection of arthritis

20년전 엑스레이 사진을 정밀분석(픽셀단위) 하여 관절염 발생을 예측할 수 있는 프로그램이 개발됐음.

72% 정도 정확하다고 함.

Early detection of arthritis

Painful predictions

Jun 4th 2009
From The Economist print edition

A new X-ray technique could spot trouble coming

MANY medical conditions associated with growing older, such as cataracts and blocked arteries, can nowadays be readily treated. But aching bones still leave researchers perplexed. Osteoarthritis of the knees presents a particularly serious problem. once the condition takes hold there is little that can be done about it. Sufferers often dramatically reduce their physical activities, which in turn can lead to the development of other health problems. A cure does not yet look likely, but a new technique could at least make predicting the onset of the disorder much easier.

Early prediction brings benefits because if people know they are vulnerable to osteoarthritis in their knees, there are things that they can do to mitigate it. Reducing weight, so less stress is placed on the knees, exercising and certain diets can all help. Usually, it is only when their knees become painful that people go to see a doctor and osteoarthritis is diagnosed. Even in its early stages, radiologists can find it difficult to notice the condition on x-rays.

Lior Shamir and his colleagues at the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore, Maryland, decided to tackle this problem by seeing if a computer program could be designed to analyse x-rays of knees and give early warnings of osteoarthritis. Dr Shamir’s team digitised 200 x-rays taken during the mid-1980s as part of a project to document the ageing of the human body. At the time, the knees of all the people involved had been diagnosed by expert radiologists as normal but, as those people aged, many developed osteoarthritis.

Science Photo Library

A knee that will hurt