Design and Implementation - Segmentation of Hand Bone for Bone Age Assessment - page 49

Chapter 3
Design and Implementation

Abstract In previous chapter, the weaknesses of conventional segmentation
methods have been identified. This concludes the desired segmentation criteria in
order to guide the mechanism of the proposed framework of segmentation. The
segmentation is performed to partition the hand bone from its background and
soft-tissue region in the beginning of this chapter. The challenges of hand bone
segmentation are the overlapping intensity between the soft-tissue region and the
spongy bone region within the hand bone. Three modules of techniques will be
discussed and implemented to solve the problem in this chapter.

3.1 Introduction

Top-down strategy is adopted in designing the proposed segmentation framework.
Firstly, the overview of the desired system is obtained through literature reviews
by reviewing the existing techniques and analyzing the factors leading them to
failure as effective hand bone segmentation technique. After gaining some insights
on constituting a desired hand bone segmentation framework, the emphasis is on
identifying the desired characteristics, only then each sub-framework to satisfy
each requirement is proposed.
The desired characteristics of hand bone segmentation framework adopted in
computer-aided skeletal age scoring system should comprise the follow:

1. Contrast, illumination, orientation invariants: to improve consistent segmenta-
tion robustness under different conditions of X-ray settings and devices.
2. Relatively low computational complexity: to realize practical execution time
for automated BAA system. Ideally, it is comprehensive enough to tackle with
image complexities and uncertainties yet it is simple enough to be executed in
a reasonable timeframe.