1. Quantitative Comparison of Conventional and Oblique MRI for Detection of Herniated Discs Automatic Herniation Detection A collaborative project with Doug Dean Eyal Bar-Kochba Erin Hannen

2. Purpose Determine the best parameters for MR imaging of spinal discs ▫Compare conventional axial slicing to oblique angle slicing Development of an algorithm for segmentation of individual spinal disks Development of an algorithm to aid in the detection of disk herniation

3. Purpose

4. Approach Modify methods from “Automatic Diagnosis of Lumbar Disc Herniation with Shape and Appearance Features from MRI” 1.Intensity: Obtain histogram. Herniated discs typically have lower intensity profile due to spreading of the nucleus pulposus over a larger area. Individual intensity values and the average intensity value are obtained

5. Approach

6. Alternatively, a method could be developed employing a curvature calculation ▫According to “The Radiological Diagnosis of Herniated Lumbar Intervertebral Disk,” curvature of a herniated disk is more angulated. ▫This method will be further explored and compared to the previous method and “gold standard” Approach

7. Project timeline April 12: First project presentation ▫April 13-27: Continue reading literature articles comparing methods for disc quantification. Begin writing MATLAB code for herniation detection using data from class labs or phantom images. April 28: Mid project presentation ▫April 28-May 15: Finish developing herniation detection code and ensure successful implementation using acquired MRI data May 16 & 17: Final project presentation