Computer-aided detection of anatomical abnormalities in x-ray tomosynthesis images

A system for detecting suspicious microcalcifications in a breast volume based on a plurality of two-dimensional x-ray tomosynthesis projection images thereof acquired at a respective plurality of x-ray tomosynthesis projection angles, the system comprising a processor programmed to perform the steps of:

• jointly processing the plurality of projection images to generate a noise compensation function based on joint noise statistics in the plurality of projection images;
• processing each of said plurality of projection images using a microcalcification-enhancing filter, a spatial smoothing filter, and said noise compensation function to generate a respective plurality of projection noise-compensated microcalcification feature arrays;
• backprojecting said plurality of projection noise-compensated microcalcification feature arrays according to a predetermined tomosynthesis reconstruction algorithm to form a plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis reconstructed feature arrays, the imaged breast volume having a three-dimensional geometry characterized by a number of levels and a number of pixels per level, wherein said plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis reconstructed feature arrays collectively occupy said three-dimensional geometry;
• individually classifying each pixel in each level of said three-dimensional geometry as being one of (i) a pixel of interest and (ii) not a pixel of interest based upon the at least one tomosynthesis reconstructed feature array value corresponding to that pixel location;
• and
• processing the identified pixels of interest to detect suspicious microcalcifications in the breast volume.

A computer readable medium embodying a computer program product for computer-aided detection (CAD) of anatomical abnormalities in a breast volume based on a plurality of two-dimensional x-ray tomosynthesis projection images thereof acquired at a respective plurality of x-ray tomosynthesis projection angles, comprising:

• computer code for processing each of the plurality of projection images according to at least one predetermined feature extraction algorithm to generate at least one projection feature array corresponding thereto;
• computer code for backprojecting, for each of the at least one predetermined features extracted, the plurality of corresponding projection feature arrays according to a predetermined tomosynthesis reconstruction algorithm to form a plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis reconstructed feature arrays, the imaged breast volume having a three-dimensional geometry characterized by a number of levels and a number of pixels per level, wherein said plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis reconstructed feature arrays collectively occupy said three-dimensional geometry;
• computer code for individually classifying each pixel in each level of said three-dimensional geometry as being one of (i) a pixel of interest and (ii) not a pixel of interest based upon the at least one tomosynthesis reconstructed feature array value corresponding to that pixel location;
• and
• computer code for generating CAD detections for the breast volume based on the identified pixels of interest.