Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory auto-immune disease characterized by progressive damage of joints, particularly in the hands and feet, which could lead to loss of function, irreversible damage and lower quality of life. To assess the extent of pathologic-anatomical changes in patients, plain radiography is commonly used. Estimating the patterns of affected joints and predicting their progression over time could give insight in the prognosis of Rheumatoid arthritis and allow for a better and more personalized treatment.

Zaida Rivai has done her research as part of her graduation work for the master Computational Science at the General Hospital in Vienna. Her supervisors were: Daniel Aletaha, General hospital Vienna and Jaap Kaandorp, Computational Science Lab (CSL) of the Informatics Institute.

The results are published in BMJ Journals.