Abstract: Disclosed, in one general aspect, is a musculoskeletal imaging system that includes a source of feature data extracted from imaging data resulting from imaging acquisitions from joints of different individuals affected by different diseases, and this feature data includes disease characteristic categorization information for a plurality of disease categories. A comparison module is operative to compare patient imaging data resulting from an imaging acquisition from a joint of a patient with the feature data. The comparison module is also operative to provide at least one categorization indicator for the patient imaging data that indicates a correspondence between spatial information in the patient imaging data and the disease categories for which there is extracted categorization information in the feature data.

Abstract: An orthopedic magnetic resonance imaging system is disclosed. This system includes a source of magnetic resonance imaging data sets resulting from successive magnetic resonance imaging acquisitions from a diseased joint of a patient. A segmentation module segments surfaces in the joint based on information contained within at least one of the data sets, and a registration module spatially registers, in three dimensions, information represented by a first of the data sets with respect to information represented by one or more further data sets for the same patient. A comparison module detects differences between information represented by the data sets caused by progression of the disease in the joint of the patient between acquisitions. A cross-patient comparison module can compare detected differences for the patient with detected differences for at least one other patient.

Abstract: An orthopedic magnetic resonance imaging system is disclosed. This system includes a source of magnetic resonance imaging data sets resulting from successive magnetic resonance imaging acquisitions from a diseased joint of a patient. A segmentation module segments surfaces in the joint based on information contained within at least one of the data sets, and a registration module spatially registers, in three dimensions, information represented by a first of the data sets with respect to information represented by one or more further data sets for the same patient. A comparison module detects differences between information represented by the data sets caused by progression of the disease in the joint of the patient between acquisitions. A cross-patient comparison module can compare detected differences for the patient with detected differences for at least one other patient.