View Related Documents

Abstract

Today most emergency room radiographs are computerized, making digital image enhancement a natural advancement to improve fracture diagnosis. We compared the diagnosis of nondisplaced proximal femur fractures using four different image enhancement methods using standard DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) after window-leveling optimization. Twenty-nine orthopaedic residents and specialists reviewed 28 pelvic images consisting of 25 occult proximal femur fractures and three images with no fracture, using four different image filters and the original DICOM image. For intertrochanteric fractures, the Retinex filter outperforms the other filters and the original image with a correct fracture type diagnosis rate of 50.6%. The Retinex filter also performs well for diagnosis of other fracture types. The Retinex filter had an interobserver agreement index of 53.5%, higher than the other filters. Sensitivity of fracture diagnosis increased to 85.2% when the Retinex filter was combined with the standard DICOM image. Correct fracture type diagnosis per minute for the Retinex filter was 1.43, outperforming the other filters. The Retinex filter may become a valuable tool in clinical settings for diagnosing fractures.
Level of Evidence: Level I, diagnostic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
One or more of the authors (RN, DR) has or may receive payments or benefits from a commercial entity (Surgix Orthopedic Solutions Ltd) related to this work.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.

Fulltext Preview

Image of the first page of the fulltext document