According to a study published in the journal, researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla and the Central Finland Health Care District have developed an AI-based neural network to detect early knee osteoarthritis from x-ray images. The lead author of the study stated that AI can support the early diagnosis of osteoarthritis in primary healthcare.

The researchers explained that previously used AI models can only detect severe cases, which can be detected by any specialist. However, those models were not accurate in the early-stage cases.

In the study, the new AI-based method was trained to detect a radiological feature predictive of osteoarthritis from x-rays. The AI model tried to detect whether there was any spiking on the tibial tubercles in the knee joint or not, as tibial spiking is a sign of osteoarthritis.

For the study, more than 700 x-ray images were used in developing the AI model, after which the model was validated with around 200 x-ray images. The model managed to accurately present the results in 87% of the cases.

(Source: https://theprint.in/health/artificial-intelligence-searches-for-early-sign-of-osteoarthritis-research/1269313/ )