SPHARM-PDM based image preprocessing pipeline for quantitative morphometric analysis (QMA) for in situ joint assessment in rabbit and rat models

The accessibility of quantitative measurements of joint morphometry depends on appropriate tibial alignment and volume of interest (VOI) selection of joint compartments; often a challenging and time-consuming manual task. In this work, we developed a novel automatic, efficient, and model-invariant image preprocessing pipeline that allows for highly reproducible 3D quantitative morphometric analysis (QMA) of the joint. The pipeline addresses the problem by deploying two modules: an alignment module and a subdivision module. Alignment is achieved by representing the tibia in its basic form using lower degree spherical harmonic basis functions and aligning using principal component analysis. The second module subdivides the joint into lateral and medial VOIs via a watershedding approach based on persistence homology. Multiple repeated micro-computed tomography scans of small (rat) and medium (rabbit) animal knees were processed using the pipeline to demonstrate model invariance. Existing QMA was performed to evaluate the pipeline’s ability to generate reproducible measurements. Intraclass correlation coefficient and mean-normalised root-mean-squared error of more than 0.75 and lower than 9.5%, respectively, were achieved for joint centre of mass, joint contact area under virtual loading, joint space width, and joint space volume. Processing time and technical requirements were reduced compared to manual processing in previous studies.