Evaluation of Thickness and Texture of the Clavicle Bone by Radiogrammetric Method on Chest Radiographs

Abstract

Chest x-rays examination is commonly used to investigate abnormalities in the chest cavity. Chest films are also able to detect internal organs and nearby organs disorders, especially the clavicle bone which are found to be common fracture risk. Clavicular fracture was accounted around 5 to 10% of all fractures. Therefore, the objective of the study was to evaluate the thickness and texture of the clavicle bone by using radiogrammetric method on chest radiographs. The population sample consisted of 120 healthy adult volunteers, (60 males, 60 females) aged from 24 to 76 years. Then, posteroanterior (PA) chest radiographs were taken. Measurements of clavicle thickness were evaluated at the midshaft of both clavicles and texture analysis were calculated from grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). The results showed the average of the percentage of combined cortical thickness in both clavicles (CL-CCT) of the female group was 53.93 %, while in male, which was fewer 46.69 % (p-value<0.05). For the age group under 61 years, CL-CCT was 52.91 %, while in the age group older than 61 years, which were fewer 46.15% (p-value<0.05). A thinning of clavicle cortical thickness tended to decrease with increasing age (R2=0.113). According to the body mass index (BMI) classifications and the location of clavicles (left and right side), there was no significant difference in the thickness of the clavicle cortex between the inner and outer surfaces. In terms of texture analysis using GLCM, it was found that the average of the angular second moment and the inverse difference moment of males were higher than females. The mean of the contrast and the entropy was lower in male group than female group (p-value<0.05). However, in the different age groups and BMI classifications showed no significant difference in texture features. In conclusion, clavicle radiogram showed a gradual thinning of the clavicle cortex. By comparison, gender differences related to the clavicle cortical thickness and the angular second moment, the contrast, the inverse difference moment, and the entropy values from GLCM image analysis. The thickness of clavicle cortex tended to decrease with increasing age.