Quantitative image analysis of the cartilage in Virtual Reality.

The objective of this work is to develop image processing methods for analysing the morphology of the joint cartilage with magnetic resonance imaging. Quantitative data on the morphological distribution of the joint cartilage are of great interest for both research as well as for diagnosis. The cartilage thickness provides information on the local cartilage occurance and may therefore be helpful in early and objective diagnosing degenerative cartilage changes, monitoring the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis, and controlling the success of chondroprotective treatment. In biomechanics, the thickness distribution serves to analyse the functional adaptation or the compression of the cartilage under loading and may be used for numerical simulation of load transmission in the joint.