# US 2008/0187200 A1 · Lung Cancer Diagnosis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Obtained at Three Time Points > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2008/0187200 A1 - Document ID: US20080187200A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 11/912,554 - Filed: 2005-04-28 - Published: 2008-08-07 - Earliest claimed: 2005-04-28 - Assignees: Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. - Inventors: Hadassa Degani; Edna Haran - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20080187200A1 ## CPC - G06T 7/0016: {involving temporal comparison} - G06T 2207/10088: Magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] - G06T 2207/30061: Lung - G06V 2201/032: of protuberances, polyps nodules, etc. - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract A malignancy classification method and medium for diagnosing a region of lung tissue based on MRI data are disclosed. The classifying includes: setting time points T1 and T2 measured from injection of a contrast agent. T1 represents a wash-in time point for malignant lung tissue at which a first concentration value of the injected contrast agent is substantially equal to or near a peak for injected contrast agent concentration in the region of lung tissue. Patient concentration values of the contrast agent for the area of lung tissue at time points T1 and T2 are obtained, and a malignancy classification for the region of lung tissue is provided by comparing the obtained sample concentration values with a predetermined malignancy profile. A visual representation of the malignancy classification of the region of lung tissue is outputted. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of providing a malignancy classification based on MRI data for a region of lung tissue, the method comprising: setting time points T1 and T2 measured from a time point T0 at or near an injection of a contrast agent, T1 representing a wash-in time point as detected by MRI for malignant lung tissue at which a first concentration value of the injected contrast agent is substantially equal to or near a peak for injected contrast agent concentration for the malignant lung tissue, wherein at T2 a second concentration value of the injected contrast agent for the malignant lung tissue is less than or substantially equal to the first concentration value at T1, and a third concentration value of the injected contrast agent for non-malignant lung tissue at T1 is less than or substantially equal to a fourth concentration value of the injected contrast agent concentration for the non-malignant lung tissue at T2; obtaining a first sample concentration value of the contrast agent for the region of lung tissue at T1 and a second sample concentration value of the contrast agent for the region of lung tissue at T2; determining a malignancy classification for the region of lung tissue by comparing the obtained sample concentration values with a predetermined malignancy profile; and outputting a representation of the malignancy classification of the region of lung tissue. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the second concentration value is greater than the fourth concentration value. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the malignancy classification comprises judging that the region of lung tissue contains malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is greater than the second obtained sample concentration value. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the malignancy classification comprises judging that the region of lung tissue contains malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is substantially equal to the second obtained sample concentration value, and the first obtained sample concentration value is higher than a predetermined first threshold concentration value. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the malignancy classification comprises judging that the region of lung tissue contains no malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is less than the second obtained sample concentration value. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said determining the malignancy classification comprises judging that the region of lung tissue contains no malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is substantially equal to the second obtained sample concentration value, and the first obtained sample concentration value is less than a predetermined second threshold concentration value. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the setting of the time points T1 and T2 comprises: calculating concentration values of the injected contrast agent at initial time points T1 and T2; finding a maximum intensity for a calibration map comprising a grid with axes K and ν, K representing a microvascular permeability value and ν representing an extracellular volume value, and obtaining normalized intensity values of each grid point of the calibration map based on the maximum intensity; assigning one of multiple categories to each grid point based on a degree of change in concentration values between initial time point T1 and initial time point T2; adjusting the calibration map such that grid points of a first category for grid points with a relatively high degree of change and grid points of a second category for grid points with a relatively low degree of change are approximately equally represented in the calibration map. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein a third category of the multiple categories is assigned to grid points with a degree of change within a predetermined range, the predetermined range being based on a noise level relative to signal strength. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the predetermined range comprises a range of percent change substantially equal to the noise level relative to signal strength. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the degree of change falling within the predetermined range is plus or minus 10%. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein said assigning of the one of the multiple categories comprises at least one of coloring and shading the grid point. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein T1 and T2 are set such that the first classification is assigned to approximately 75% of grid points representing malignant tissue. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the representation of the malignancy classification is color-coded image data. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the representation is a voxel representation. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the region of lung tissue is evaluated based on the spatial distribution of malignant tissue in the representation. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein registration is used to correct for shifting of the region of tissue in obtaining the concentration values. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said outputting of the representation comprises outputting a visual representation. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein said outputting of the representation comprises smoothing based on surrounding pixels. ### Claim 19 A computer-readable medium incorporating a program of instructions for providing a malignancy classification for a region of lung tissue based on MRI data, the program of instructions comprising: instructions for setting time points T1 and T2 measured from a time point T0 at or near an injection of a contrast agent, T1 representing a wash-in time point as detected by MRI for malignant lung tissue at which a first concentration value of the injected contrast agent is substantially equal to or near a peak for injected contrast agent concentration for the malignant lung tissue, wherein at T2 a second concentration value of the injected contrast agent for the malignant lung tissue is less than or substantially equal to the first concentration value at T1, and a third concentration value of the injected contrast agent for non-malignant lung tissue at T1 is less than or substantially equal to a fourth concentration value of the injected contrast agent concentration for the non-malignant lung tissue at T2; instructions for obtaining a first sample concentration value of the contrast agent for the region of lung tissue at T1 and a second concentration value of the contrast agent for the region of lung tissue at T2; instructions for determining a malignancy classification for the region of lung tissue by comparing the obtained sample concentration values with a predetermined malignancy profile; and instructions for outputting a representation of the malignancy classification of the region of lung tissue. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein the second concentration value is greater than the fourth concentration value. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein said instructions for determining the malignancy classification comprise instructions for judging that the region of lung tissue contains malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is greater than the second obtained sample concentration value. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein said instructions for determining the malignancy classification comprise instructions for judging that the region of lung tissue contains malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is substantially equal to the second obtained sample concentration value, and the first obtained sample concentration value is higher than a predetermined first threshold concentration value. ### Claim 23 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein said instructions for determining the malignancy classification comprise instructions for judging that the region of lung tissue contains no malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is less than the second obtained sample concentration value. ### Claim 24 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein said instructions for determining the malignancy classification comprise instructions for judging that the region of lung tissue contains no malignancy when the first obtained sample concentration value is substantially equal to the second obtained sample concentration value, and the first obtained sample concentration value is less than a predetermined second threshold concentration value. ### Claim 25 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein said instructions for setting of the time points T1 and T2 comprises: instructions for calculating concentration values of the injected contrast agent at initial time points T1 and T2; instructions for finding a maximum intensity for a calibration map comprising a grid with axes K and ν, K representing a microvascular permeability value and ν representing an extracellular volume value, and obtaining normalized intensity values of each grid point of the calibration map based on the maximum intensity; instructions for assigning one of multiple categories to each grid point based on a degree of change in concentration values between initial time point T1 and initial time point T2; instructions for adjusting the calibration map such that grid points of a first category for grid points with a relatively high degree of change and grid points of a second category for grid points with a relatively low degree of change are approximately equally represented in the calibration map. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The medium of claim 25, wherein a third category of the multiple categories is assigned to grid points with a degree of change within a predetermined range, the predetermined range being based on a noise level relative to signal strength. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The medium of claim 26, wherein the predetermined range comprises a range of percent change substantially equal to the noise level relative to signal strength. ### Claim 28 (depends on 26) The medium of claim 26, wherein the degree of change falling within the predetermined range is plus or minus 10%. ### Claim 29 (depends on 25) The medium of claim 25, wherein said instructions for assigning of the one of the three categories comprise at least one of coloring and shading the grid point. ### Claim 30 (depends on 25) The medium of claim 25, wherein T1 and T2 are set such that the first classification is assigned to approximately 75% of grid points representing malignant tissue. ### Claim 31 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein the representation of the malignancy classification is color-coded image data. ### Claim 32 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein the representation is a voxel representation. ### Claim 33 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein the region of lung tissue is evaluated based on the spatial distribution of malignant tissue in the representation. ### Claim 34 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein registration is used to correct for shifting of the region of tissue in obtaining the concentration values. ### Claim 35 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein said instructions for outputting the representation comprise instructions for outputting a visual representation. ### Claim 36 (depends on 19) The medium of claim 19, wherein said instructions for outputting the representation comprise instructions for smoothing based on surrounding pixels.