3D Geodesic Topological Analysis of Trabecular Bone Micro-Architecture of the Proximal Femur

Julio Carballido-Gamio¹, Jenny Folkesson², Thomas Baum², Thomas M. Link², Sharmila Majumdar², Roland Krug²

The purpose of this work was twofold: 1) to develop a technique to perform 3D Geodesic Topological Analysis (GTA) of trabecular bone micro-architecture; 2) to demonstrate 3D GTA on high-spatial resolution MR images of the proximal femur. 3D GTA was validated using digital phantoms. Skeletonization results showed the medial location of the skeleton and preservation of shape and topology. 3D GTA correctly assigned each voxel to its closest connected junction enabling volume, spacing and orientation measures of trabecular bone. Also based on minimum geodesic distances, voxels in the trabecular bone network were correctly classified as plates or rods.