Distributed architecture for mammographic image acquisition and processing

A mammographic imaging system comprising:

• a first mammographic image acquisition station including an imaging source for transmitting an imaging signal relative to a patient's breast, and a digital detector for detecting said transmitted signal from said patient's breast and providing a digital signal based on said detected signal, wherein said digital signal defines a first digital image of at least a portion of said patient's breast;
• an image acquisition station user interface for receiving user inputs from a first user of said first mammographic image acquisition station to control a process for acquiring said first digital image of said patient's breast;
• and
• an image acquisition station controller operative for:
• receiving said user inputs from said image acquisition station user interface;
• transmitting a controller output based on said user inputs to a remote processing platform, wherein said remote processing platform executes logic for use in operating said first mammographic image acquisition station;
• receiving a controller input from said remote processing platform;
• and
• operating said first mammographic image acquisition station based on said controller input from said remote processing platform.

A mammographic imaging system comprising:

• a) a first mammographic image acquisition station including:
• an imaging source for transmitting an imaging signal relative to a patient's breast;
• a digital detector for detecting said transmitted signal from said patient's breast and providing a digital signal based on said detected signal, wherein said digital signal defines a first digital image of at least a portion of said patient's breast;
• an image acquisition station user interface for receiving image acquisition inputs from a first user of said mammographic image acquisition station to control a process for acquiring said first digital image of said patient's breast;
• and
• an image acquisition station controller operative for:
• providing said first digital image to an image repository for storing digital images,
• receiving said user inputs from said image acquisition station user interface,
• transmitting a controller output based on said user inputs to a remote processing platform, wherein said remote processing platform executes logic for use in operating said first mammographic image acquisition station,
• receiving a controller input from said remote processing platform;
• and
• operating said first mammographic image acquisition station based on said controller input from said remote processing platform;
• and
• b) a remote first mammographic image review station disposed at a location separate from said mammographic image acquisition station.

A mammographic imaging system comprising:

• an input port for receiving digital mammographic images from multiple mammographic image acquisition stations;
• a processor for use in storing said mammographic images in an image repository and providing access to said image repository;
• an output port for use in outputting one or more of said mammographic images to multiple mammographic image review stations;
• and
• a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in said image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users to annotate the original stored digital image, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another of said multiple users to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository.

A computer program product for enabling a computer to manage storage of and access to digital mammographic images relative to multiple mammographic image acquisition stations and multiple mammographic image review stations, comprising:

• logical instructions for enabling the computer to perform predetermined operations;
• and
• a computer readable medium bearing the logical instructions;
• the predetermined operations including the steps of:
• receiving digital mammographic images from the multiple mammographic image acquisition stations;
• storing the received mammographic images in an image repository;
• receiving queries from the multiple mammographic image review stations;
• processing the queries to obtain responsive mammographic image information;
• transmitting the responsive mammographic image information to the mammographic image review stations;
• and
• providing a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at the multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in said image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users at one of the multiple review stations to annotate the original stored digital image, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another user at another review station to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository.

A method for use in managing digital mammographic image information, comprising the steps of:

• receiving, at a processing platform, digital mammographic images from multiple mammographic image acquisition stations;
• storing the received mammographic images in an image repository associated with the processing platform;
• receiving, at the processing platform, queries from multiple mammographic image review stations;
• processing, at the processing platform, the queries to obtain responsive mammographic image information;
• transmitting the responsive mammographic image information from the processing platform to the mammographic image review stations;
• and
• providing a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at the multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in said image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users at one of the multiple review stations to annotate the original stored digital image, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another user at another review station to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository.