Innovative multi-channel AI method for the improved diagnosis of upper extremity bone fractures in the trauma setting.

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This project will develop the proof of concept of an innovative multi-channel AI method to improve the prevention and diagnosis of fragility fractures.Digital radiology (DR) remains the standard imaging protocol for fracture detection after trauma and whilst the majority of pathologies are correctly identified, a significant proportion are missed, leading to a delay in diagnosis, increased pain and suffering and additional costs from repeated diagnostic tests and treatment. Radiologists assess many features of a standard DR image to predict the presence of pathologies or the risk of future fractures that requires a more detailed inspection of bone structure in the affected region. However, trauma radiologists have limited time to manipulate image contrast and determine patient risk based on pre-determined factors, and certain pathologies will be missed if they are not immediately obvious in the radiograph.The project will build upon the unique IBEX Trueview(r) technology which has been developed with the support of previous InnovateUK funded projects. Using standard DR images, Trueview generates improved image quality and unique composition-based outputs to suppress soft tissue contrast and boost bone fine detail, thereby improving the visibility of subtle fractures and other pathologies. It is also able to provide an accurate measure of bone health based on bone density. Trueview includes a proprietary AI-based bone segmentation algorithm to accurately segment bone from soft tissue with limited training data.The project will have three primary aims: 1) To further enhance the proprietary "IBEX XNET" AI-based bone segmentation method to generate an additional quantitative bone morphology output; 2) To develop new composition-guided post processing methods to create independent bone-enhanced and tissue-enhanced diagnostic images; and 3) To automate the process of detecting or determining risk or future fragility fractures.