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US 7,577,282 B2Granted
Image handling and display in X-ray mammography and tomosynthesis
AssigneeHologic, Inc.
InventorsNikolaos A. Gkanatsios, Loren Niklason, Ian Shaw, Christopher Ruth, Andrew P. Smith, Jay A. Stein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system for acquiring, processing, storing, and displaying x-ray mammograms Mp tomosynthesis images Tr representative of breast slices, and x-ray tomosynthesis projection images Tp taken at different angles to a breast, where the Tr images are reconstructed from Tp images.
Claims97
A method of acquiring and displaying x-ray images comprising:
- acquiring x-ray mammography image data Mp representative of projection mammography images of patients' breasts and x-ray tomosynthesis image data Tp representative of projection images Tp taken at different angles of an origin of imaging x-rays relative to the patients' breasts, from an acquisition unit configured to selectively acquire said mammography and tomosynthesis image data;
- reconstructing at least a subset of the acquired Tp data into reconstructed tomosynthesis image data Tr representative of images of slices of the breasts that have selected orientations and thicknesses;
- and
- displaying at least a selected subcombination of the Mp, Tr and Tp image data as respective Mp, Tp and/or Tr images for concurrent viewing while identifying the displayed images as Mp, Tr and/or Tp images, wherein the displayed images include at least two of said images, one of which is a Tr image or a Tp image.
1 more element
A system comprising:
- an acquisition unit comprising a breast platform, a source of x-rays at one side of the platform and an x-ray imaging device at another side of the platform, said acquisition unit selectively acquiring x-ray mammography image data representative of projection mammography images Mp of patients' breasts on said platform and x-ray tomosynthesis image data representative of tomosynthesis projection images Tp taken at different angles of at least the x-ray source relative to the breast platform;
- an image reconstruction unit coupled with the acquisition unit and receiving said image data therefrom and selectively reconstructing at least a subset of the acquired Tp images into reconstructed tomosynthesis images Tr representative of slices of the breasts that have selected orientations and thicknesses;
- and
- a display unit displaying at least a selected subcombination of the Mp, Tr and Tp images for concurrent viewing while showing at or near the displayed images respective labeling symbols identifying them as Mp, Tr or Tp images.
1 more element
A method of displaying x-ray images comprising:
- providing x-ray mammography image data Mp representative of projection mammography images Mp of patients' breasts and tomosynthesis images Tr reconstructed from tomosynthesis image data Tp representative of projection images taken at different angles of an origin of imaging x-rays relative to the patients' breasts;
- wherein said images Tr are representative of slices of the breasts that have selected orientations and thicknesses;
- and
- displaying at least a selected subcombination of the Mp, Tr and Tp image data as respective Mp, Tp and/or Tr images for concurrent viewing of at least two displayed images, one of which is a Tp image or a Tr image, together with one or more computer aided detection (CAD) marks associated with suspected abnormalities in one or more of said images.
1 more element
A method of displaying x-ray images comprising:
- providing x-ray mammography image data Mp representative of projection mammography images Mp of patients' breasts and tomosynthesis images Tr reconstructed from tomosynthesis image data Tp representative of projection images taken at different angles of an origin of imaging x-rays relative to the patients' breasts;
- wherein said images Tr are representative of slices of the breasts that have selected orientations and thicknesses;
- and
- selectively displaying at least a selected subcombination of the Mp, Tr and Tp image data as respective Mp, Tp and/or Tr images for viewing, wherein the displayed subcombination includes at least two of said images, one of which is a Tr image or a Tp image.
1 more element
A method of displaying x-ray images comprising:
- providing x-ray mammography image data Mp representative of projection mammography images Mp of patients' breasts and tomosynthesis images Tr reconstructed from tomosynthesis image data Tp representative of projection images taken at different angles of an origin of imaging x-rays relative to the patients' breasts;
- wherein said images Tr are representative of slices of the breasts that have selected orientations and thicknesses;
- and
- selectively displaying one of an Mp image and a Tr image on top of the other for viewing, wherein the top image may be partly transparent or non-transparent.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.