title: Toward automated classification of acetabular shape in ultrasound for diagnosis of DDH: Contour alpha angle and the rounding index.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The diagnosis of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) in infants is currently made primarily by ultrasound. However, two-dimensional ultrasound (2DUS) images capture only an incomplete portion of the acetabular shape, and the alpha and beta angles measured on 2DUS for the Graf classification technique show high inter-scan and inter-observer variability. This variability relates partly to the manual determination of the apex point separating the acetabular roof from the ilium during index measurement. This study proposes a new 2DUS image processing technique for semi-automated tracing of the bony surface followed by automatic calculation of two indices: a contour-based alpha angle (αA), and a new modality-independent quantitative rounding index (M). The new index M is independent of the apex point, and can be directly extended to 3D surface models.
  
  
  METHODS
  We tested the proposed indices on a dataset of 114 2DUS scans of infant hips aged between 4 and 183 days scanned using a 12MHz linear transducer. We calculated the manual alpha angle (αM), coverage, contour-based alpha angle and rounding index for each of the recordings and statistically evaluated these indices based on regression analysis, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and analysis of variance (ANOVA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Processing time for calculating αA and M was similar to manual alpha angle measurement, ∼30s per image. Reliability of the new indices was high, with inter-observer intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) 0.90 for αA and 0.89 for M. For a diagnostic test classifying hips as normal or dysplastic, AUC was 93.0% for αA vs. 92.7% for αM, 91.6% for M alone, and up to 95.7% for combination of M with αM, αA or coverage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rounding index provides complimentary information to conventional indices such as alpha angle and coverage. Calculation of the contour-based alpha angle and rounding index is rapid, shows potential to improve the reliability and accuracy of DDH diagnosis from 2DUS, and could be extended to 3D ultrasound in future.
authors.affiliation: Servier Virtual Cardiac Centre, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2B7. Electronic address: hareendr@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Abhilash Rakkunedeth
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hareendranathan
authors.affiliation: Servier Virtual Cardiac Centre, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2B7.
authors.forename: Myles
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mabee
authors.affiliation: Servier Virtual Cardiac Centre, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2B7.
authors.forename: Kumaradevan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Punithakumar
authors.affiliation: Servier Virtual Cardiac Centre, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2B7.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noga
authors.affiliation: Servier Virtual Cardiac Centre, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada T6G 2B7.
authors.forename: Jacob L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Jaremko
mesh_terms: D000077:Acetabulum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001331:Automation; D006618:Hip Dislocation, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: 2D ultrasound; Acetabular coverage; Alpha angle; Classification of DDH; Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH); Rounding index