System and method for staging regional lymph nodes using quantitative analysis of endoscopic ultrasound images

A method for analyzing position-correlated signals of a predetermined parameter of a lymph node to determine the status of the lymph node as being at a particular stage, comprising the steps of:

• (a) gathering position-correlated signals of a predetermined parameter of tissue including a lymph node;
• (b) converting the position-correlated signals of a predetermined parameter of tissue including a lymph node into a matrix of digital parameter data;
• (c) determining a region of the matrix corresponding to the lymph node;
• (d) determining at least one arithmetic value related to the texture of at least a portion of the region of the matrix corresponding to the lymph node;
• (e) comparing the at least one arithmetic value to at least one predetermined value;
• and
• (f) determining whether the lymph node is at the particular stage based on the relationship between the at least one arithmetic value and the at least one predetermined value.

Apparatus for analyzing an ultrasound image of a lymph node to determine the status of the lymph node as being at a particular stage, comprising:

• (a) means for converting the ultrasound image into a digital ultrasound image;
• (b) means for determining a region of the digital ultrasound image corresponding to the lymph node;
• (c) means for determining at least one arithmetic value related to the organization of the texture of at least a portion of the region of the digital ultrasound image corresponding to the lymph node;
• (d) means for comparing the at least one arithmetic value to at least one predetermined value;
• and
• (e) means for determining whether the lymph node is at the particular stage based on the relationship between the at least one arithmetic value and the at least one predetermined value.

A computer-readable computer program product including a computer readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor in a computer system to determine whether a lymph node is at a particular stage from a digital ultrasound image corresponding to the lymph node, said computer-readable computer program product comprising:

• (a) means for determining a region of the digital ultrasound image corresponding to the lymph node;
• (b) means for determining at least one arithmetic value related to the organization of the texture of at least a portion of the region of the digital ultrasound image corresponding to the lymph node;
• (c) means for comparing the at least one arithmetic value to at least one predetermined value;
• and
• (d) means for determining whether the lymph node is at the particular stage based on the relationship between the at least one arithmetic value and the at least one predetermined value.

A method of staging lymph nodes comprising the steps of:

• (a) acquiring and digitizing an endoscopic ultrasound image of at least one lymph node;
• (b) defining a portion of the image that corresponds to the at least one lymph node;
• (c) analyzing the textural features of the defined portion of the image that corresponds to the at least one lymph node, wherein this step comprises the steps of:
• (1) segmenting the defined portion of the image corresponding to the at least one lymph node into a plurality of pixel matrices;
• (2) for each pixel matrix, determining a difference entropy textural feature, a correlation textural feature, and a size value for the lymph node;
• (3) comparing the difference entropy textural feature, the correlation textural feature, and the size value for the lymph node to a predetermined reference standard;
• and
• (4) determining the stage of the lymph node from the comparison.