Deep-Learning System for Automatic Measurement of the Femorotibial Rotational Angle on Lower-Extremity Computed...

To develop and validate a deep-learning-based algorithm for automatic identification of anatomical landmarks and calculating femoral and tibial version angles (FTT angles) on lower-extremity CT scans. In this IRB-approved, retrospective study, lower-extremity CT scans from 270 adult patients (median age, 69 years; female to male ratio, 235:35) were analyzed. CT data were preprocessed using contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization and RGB superposition to enhance tissue boundary distinction. The Attention U-Net model was trained using the gold standard of manual labeling and landmark drawing, enabling it to segment bones, detect landmarks, create lines, and automatically measure the femoral version and tibial torsion angles. The model's performance was validated against manual segmentations by a musculoskeletal radiologist using a test dataset. The segmentation model demonstrated 92.16%±0.02 sensitivity, 99.96%±<0.01 specificity, and 2.14±2.39 HD95, with a Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 93.12%±0.01. Automatic measurements of femoral and tibial torsion angles showed good correlation with radiologists' measurements, with correlation coefficients of 0.64 for femoral and 0.54 for tibial angles (p < 0.05). Automated segmentation significantly reduced the measurement time per leg compared to manual methods (57.5 ± 8.3 s vs. 79.6 ± 15.9 s, p < 0.05). We developed a method to automate the measurement of femorotibial rotation in continuous axial CT scans of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) using a deep-learning approach. This method has the potential to expedite the analysis of patient data in busy clinical settings.