Measuring Maximum Head Circumference Within the Picture Archiving and Communication System: A Fully Automatic Approach

Abstract

This study describes an automatic technique to accurately determine the maximum head circumference (MHC) measurement from MRI studies within the Picture Archiving and Communications System, and can automatically add this measurement to the final radiology report. Participants were selected through a retrospective chart review of patients referred to the neurosurgery clinic. Forty-nine pediatric patients with ages ranging from 5 months to 11 years were included in the study. We created 14 printed ring structures to mirror the head circumference values at various ages along the x-axis of the Nellhaus chart. The 3D-printed structures were used to create MRI phantoms. Analytical obtainment of circumference values from the 3D objects and phantom images allowed for a fair estimation and correction of errors on the image-based-measuring instrument. Then, standard manual MHC measurements were performed and compared to values obtained from the patients' MRI T1 images using the tuned instrument proposed in this document. A T-test revealed no statistical difference between the manual assessments and the ones obtained by the automation p = 0.357, α = 0.05. This automatic application augments the more error-prone manual MHC measurement, and can add a numerical value to the final radiology report as a standard application.