Device and method for detecting clinically important objects in medical images with distance-based decision stratification

A device for performing computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), comprising:

• a memory, storing computer-executable instructions;
• and
• a processor, coupled with the memory and, when the computer-executable instructions being executed, configured to:
• acquire a medical image set;
• generate a three-dimensional (3D) tumor distance map corresponding to the medical image set, each voxel of the tumor distance map representing a distance from the voxel to a nearest boundary of a primary tumor present in the medical image set;
• and
• perform neural-network processing of the medical image set to generate a predicted probability map to predict presence and locations of oncology significant lymph nodes (OSLNs) in the medical image set, wherein voxels in the medical image set are stratified and processed according to the tumor distance map.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions, wherein when the plurality of instructions are executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• acquire a medical image set;
• generate a three-dimensional (3D) tumor distance map corresponding to the medical image set, each voxel of the tumor distance map representing a distance from the voxel to a nearest boundary of a primary tumor present in the medical image set;
• and
• perform neural-network processing of the medical image set to generate a predicted probability map to predict presence and locations of oncology significant lymph nodes (OSLNs) in the medical image set, wherein voxels in the medical image set are stratified and processed according to the tumor distance map.