Thick-slice processing and display of information from a volumetric ultrasound scan of a chestwardly compressed breast

A method for processing breast ultrasound information, comprising:

• receiving a three-dimensional data volume of a sonographic property of a breast;
• processing the data volume to generate a plurality of two-dimensional coronal thick-slice images, each coronal thick-slice image being representative of the sonographic property within a thick-slice subvolume of the breast substantially parallel to a coronal plane;
• and
• displaying the plurality of coronal thick-slice images to a viewer;
• wherein each of said thick-slice images is computed to emphasize terminal ductal lobular units (TDLUs) at least partially contained in the corresponding thick-slice subvolume.

A computer program product embodied in an information storage device containing instructions to a breast ultrasound information processing and display system to:

• receive a three-dimensional data volume of a sonographic property of a chestwardly compressed breast;
• process the data volume to generate a plurality of two-dimensional coronal thick-slice images, each coronal thick-slice image being representative of the sonographic property within a thick-slice subvolume of the breast substantially parallel to a coronal plane;
• and
• display the plurality of coronal thick-slice images to a viewer;
• wherein each of said thick-slice subvolumes has a thickness of about 2 mm;
• and wherein said thick-slice images are displayed in a cine progression selected from the group consisting of a staggered cine progression and a morphable continuous cine progression.

A breast ultrasound system, comprising:

• an ultrasound acquisition unit compressing a breast in a chestward direction and ultrasonically scanning the breast to generate a three-dimensional data volume of a sonographic property of the chestwardly compressed breast;
• a processing unit processing the data volume to generate a plurality of two-dimensional projection-view thick-slice images, each projection-view thick-slice image being representative of the sonographic property within a thick-slice subvolume of the breast substantially parallel to a projection-view plane substantially different than a coronal plane;
• and
• a display unit displaying the plurality of projection-view thick-slice images to a viewer;
• wherein each of said thick-slice subvolumes has a thickness such that terminal ductal lobular units (TDLUs) within the breast are readily apparent in said coronal thick-slice images.

A method for projection-view processing and display of breast ultrasound information, comprising:

• receiving a three-dimensional data volume of a sonographic property of a chestwardly compressed breast;
• processing the data volume to generate a plurality of two-dimensional projection-view thick-slice images, each projection-view thick-slice image being representative of the sonographic property within a thick-slice subvolume of the breast substantially parallel to a projection-view plane substantially different than a coronal plane;
• and
• displaying the plurality of projection-view thick-slice images to a viewer;
• wherein each of said thick-slice subvolumes has a thickness such that terminal ductal lobular units (TDLUs) within the breast are readily apparent in said coronal thick-slice images.