Quantification of cartilage loss in local regions of knee joints using semi-automated segmentation software: analysis of longitudinal data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI)

The results suggest that measurement of cartilage loss in a local region is superior to larger areas and to the total plate. There also may be an optimal region size (10 mm from an indexed point) in which to measure change. In principle, the method is substantially faster than segmenting entire plates or sub-regions.