Researchers from IITG develop model to predict knee osteoarthritis severity

Guwahati Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have developed a Deep Learning (DL)-based framework that automatically assesses the knee osteoarthritis severity from X-ray images.

The AI-based model, named OsteoHRNet, can be used to detect the severity level of the disease and assist medical practitioners remotely for a more accurate diagnosis.

Knee osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal disorder in the world and has a prevalence of 28 per cent in India.

There is no possible cure for knee osteoarthritis except total joint replacement at an advanced stage hence an early diagnosis is essential for pain management and behavioural corrections.

MRI and CT scans provide a 3D image of the knee joints for effective diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis but their availability is limited and expensive.

For routine diagnosis X-Ray imaging is very effective and more economically feasible.

"Compared to others, our model can pinpoint the area which is medically most important to decide the severity level of knee osteoarthritis thus helping medical practitioners detect the disease accurately at an early stage," said Dr Palash Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, IIT Guwahati, in a statement.