Novel three-dimensional bone ‘mapping’ software can help assess progression of osseous metastases from routine CT

Imaging of bone metastasis response to therapy is a research priority. Stradwin is a new software-tool, with demonstrated sub-voxel accuracy in assessing cortical bone properties from routine CT. We applied this technology to the context of osseous metastases, with particular focus on disease progression using prostate cancer as a model. 3D–rendered ‘bone-maps’ were produced for 20 men with advanced prostate cancer, including a sub-cohort of 9 who had undergone serial scans. Correlation between baseline interpretation and assessments of progression between modalities was assessed. Bone-maps took significantly less time to interpret than CT bone windows (P < 0.001). Initial bone-mapping, without adjustment, demonstrated sensitivity and specificity for suspicious areas on CT of 70.7% and 73.1% respectively. Evaluating disease over time, concordance between bone-maps and current practice using RECIST outcomes was 100%. This study demonstrates the feasibility and potential use of this free post-processing software in the serial assessment of osseous metastases. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13014-017-0880-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.