Performance Improvement of Joint Space Distance Measurement for PIP joints

In order to analyze progresses of rheumatoid arthritis, we are developing an application to measure the distance between finger joints from X-ray images. In this paper, we focus on second joints, which are known to be prone to arthritis. We have proposed a method of filtering images and detecting edges, which has improved accuracy. Experimental results show that practical application of this system will reduce the burden on physicians and contribute to early detection of rheumatoid arthritis.