Disease-Modifying Effects of a Novel Cathepsin K Inhibitor in Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: MIV-711 is a novel selective cathepsin K inhibitor with beneficial effects on bone and cartilage in preclinical osteoarthritis models.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of MIV-711 in participants with symptomatic, radiographic knee osteoarthritis.

Design: 26-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2a study with a 26-week open-label safety extension substudy.

Very early MRI responses to therapy as a predictor of later radiographic progression in early rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate early changes in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical disease activity measures as predictors of later structural progression in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: This was a post hoc analysis of data pooled across treatments from a three-arm (tofacitinib monotherapy, tofacitinib with methotrexate [MTX], or MTX monotherapy) trial of MTX-naïve patients with early, active RA. Synovitis, osteitis and erosions were assessed with the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) RA MRI scoring system (RAMRIS) and RAMRIQ (automated quantitative RA MRI assessment system; automated RAMRIS) at months 0, 1, 3, 6 and 12.

Precision, Reliability, and Responsiveness of a Novel Automated Quantification Tool for Cartilage Thickness: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: Accurate automated segmentation of cartilage should provide rapid reliable outcomes for both epidemiological studies and clinical trials. We aimed to assess the precision and responsiveness of cartilage thickness measured with careful manual segmentation or a novel automated technique.

Methods: Agreement of automated segmentation was assessed against 2 manual segmentation datasets: 379 magnetic resonance images manually segmented in-house (training set), and 582 from the Osteoarthritis Initiative with data available at 0, 1, and 2 years (biomarkers set).

Evaluation of segmentation methods on head and neck CT: Auto-segmentation challenge 2015.

Purpose: Automated delineation of structures and organs is a key step in medical imaging. However, due to the large number and diversity of structures and the large variety of segmentation algorithms, a consensus is lacking as to which automated segmentation method works best for certain applications. Segmentation challenges are a good approach for unbiased evaluation and comparison of segmentation algorithms.

Repeatability and response to therapy of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis in a large multicentre trial setting.

Objectives: To determine the repeatability and response to therapy of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI biomarkers of synovitis in the hand and wrist of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and in particular the performance of the transfer constant K , in a multicentre trial setting.

Methods: DCE-MRI and RA MRI scoring (RAMRIS) were performed with meticulous standardisation at baseline and 6 and 24 weeks in a substudy of fostamatinib monotherapy in reducing synovitis compared with placebo or adalimumab. Analysis employed statistical shape modelling to avoid biased regions-of-interest, kinetic modelling and heuristic analyses.

Evaluation of prostate segmentation algorithms for MRI: the PROMISE12 challenge.

Prostate MRI image segmentation has been an area of intense research due to the increased use of MRI as a modality for the clinical workup of prostate cancer. Segmentation is useful for various tasks, e.g.

Ball-and-socket joint motion description using spherical medial representation.

The close inter-relationship between shape and functionality of osteo-articular complexes is fundamental for understanding, modeling, and imaging. It is thus desirable to put forward theoretical and methodological principles that take benefit of this relationship. In this paper, we propose a new representation of spherical motions that is applied to ball-and-socket joint such as hip and shoulder.