title: Semantic annotation of 3D anatomical models to support diagnosis and follow-up analysis of musculoskeletal pathologies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  While 3D patient-specific digital models are currently available, thanks to advanced medical acquisition devices, there is still a long way to go before these models can be used in clinical practice. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how 3D patient-specific models of anatomical parts can be analysed and documented accurately with morphological information extracted automatically from the data. Part-based semantic annotation of 3D anatomical models is discussed as a basic approach for sharing and reusing knowledge among clinicians for next-generation CAD-assisted diagnosis and treatments.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have developed (1) basic services for the analysis of 3D anatomical models and (2) a methodology for the enrichment of such models with relevant descriptions and attributes, which reflect the parameters of interest for medical investigations. The proposed semantic annotation is ontology-driven and includes both descriptive and quantitative labelling. Most importantly, the developed methodology permits to identify and annotate also parts-of-relevance of anatomical entities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The computational tools for the automatic computation of qualitative and quantitative parameters have been integrated in a prototype system, the SemAnatomy3D framework, which demonstrates the functionalities needed to support effective annotation of 3D patient-specific models. From the first evaluation, SemAnatomy3D appears as an effective tool for clinical data analysis and opens new ways to support clinical diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SemAnatomy3D framework integrates several functionalities for 3D part-based annotation. The idea has been presented and discussed for the case study of rheumatoid arthritis of carpal bones; however, the framework can be extended to support similar annotations in different clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: CNR-IMATI Genova, Via De Marini 6, Genova, Italy. imon.banerjee@ge.imati.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Imon
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3327-8004
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: CNR-IMATI Genova, Via De Marini 6, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara Eva
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Catalano
authors.affiliation: CNR-IMATI Genova, Via De Marini 6, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Patané
authors.affiliation: CNR-IMATI Genova, Via De Marini 6, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spagnuolo
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare; D059925:Anatomic Landmarks; D002348:Carpal Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D066230:Patient-Specific Modeling; D012660:Semantics
keywords: 3D morphological characterization; Anatomical landmarks; Biomedical ontology; Patient-specific 3D model; Semantic annotation