title: Automatic extraction of bone surfaces from 3D ultrasound images in orthopaedic trauma cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  3D ultrasound (US) imaging has the potential to become a powerful alternative imaging modality in orthopaedic surgery as it is radiation-free and can produce 3D images (in contrast to fluoroscopy) in near-real time. Conventional B-mode US images, however, are characterized by high levels of noise and reverberation artifacts, image quality is user-dependent, and bone surfaces are blurred, which makes it difficult to both interpret images and to use them as a basis for navigated interventions. 3D US has great potential to assist orthopaedic care, possibly assisting during surgery if the anatomical structures of interest could be localized and visualized with sufficient accuracy and clarity and in a highly automated rapid manner.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this paper, we present clinical results for a novel 3D US segmentation technique we have recently developed based on multi-resolution analysis to localize bone surfaces in 3D US volumes. Our method is validated on scans obtained from 29 trauma patients with distal radius and pelvic ring fractures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Qualitative and quantitative results demonstrate remarkably clear segmentations of bone surfaces with an average surface fitting error of 0.62 mm (standard deviation (SD) of 0.42 mm) for pelvic patients and 0.21 mm (SD 0.14 mm) for distal radius patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that our technique is sufficiently accurate for potential use in orthopaedic trauma applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers University, 599 Taylor Road, Piscataway, 08854, NJ, USA, ilker.hac@rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Ilker
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hacihaliloglu
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guy
authors.forename: Antony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.forename: Rafeef
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abugharbieh
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D010384:Pelvic Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000293:injuries; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted; D014463:Ultrasonography