Abstract
This dissertation is focused on the study of the computer-assisted bone age assessment and the corresponding bone age statistics. The topics include the description of a fully automatic computerized bone age assessment procedure based on phalangeal ossification features, the growth synchronization of phalanxes based on the statistics of computerized features, and the quantitative assessment of carpal growth by growth factors. The study not only makes a correlation evaluation of phalanxes but supports direct evidence that a feature of middle finger could be used as a good index to describe the bone age. The dissertation also provides a survey to describe the relationship between chronological age and carpals’ shapes and relative positions in pediatrics. In addition, it also makes a computerized analysis of the relative position and geometric features of carpals versus chronological and bone age. The results of this study not only can support the fundamental bioinformatics of carpals of Taiwanese but also some significant features to make the computerized bone age assessment system more practical in pediatrics. Besides, the dissertation describes the construction of a carpal ossified model, and its applications to carpal bone age assessment and bone growth estimation procedures based on a fuzzy criterion and statistical analysis. The proposed growth matrices include the longitudinal and transverse descriptions of the increase rate of a bone in each one-year-old growth stage. The growth matrices can indicate the overall dynamic processes and trends of the ossification of each part of carpals. Combining the geometric features, we can obtain the carpal growth model that can cover many aspects and benefits for the analysis of the ossification. Some medical evidence of Taiwanese is discovered in the dissertation, too. The differences between North American and Taiwanese children are roughly identified. The growth sequence and geometric features of carpal bones have some obvious differences. The work could support the health care department to promote the quality of life for Taiwanese.