Voxel-level machine learning with or without cloud-based support in medical imaging

A method for use of machine-learnt classifier in medical imaging, the method comprising:

• segmenting, by a processor, gross parts of an anatomic structure of a patient represented in medical imaging data;
• locating, by the processor, a region adjacent and separate from the segmented gross parts of the anatomic structure, and locating the gross parts of the anatomic structure from the segmenting, where the region contains relatively smaller parts of the anatomic structure and contains tissue not of the anatomic structure, where the relatively smaller parts of the anatomical structure are smaller than the gross parts of the anatomical structure;
• dividing, by the processor, the region represented in the medical imaging data into a plurality of patches;
• classifying, with a machine-learnt classifier, each of the patches as including relatively smaller parts of the anatomical structure or not including relatively smaller parts of the anatomical structure, the classifying of each of the patches being independent of classifying the other patches;
• merging, by the processor, locations for the patches classified as including relatively smaller parts of the anatomical structure to the gross parts of the anatomical structure;
• and
• outputting, on a display, a segmented image of the anatomical structure including locations from the locating and the merged locations from the patches.