System And Method For Diagnosing Breast Cancer

• US 20070225600A1
• Filed: 04/29/2005
• Published: 09/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Bredno, Joerg, Weibrecht, Martin
• Granted Patent: US 7,835,556 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/429
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/025 Tomosynthesis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/502 for diagnosis of breast, i.e. mammography

Abstract

The invention relates to a system and a method for the investigation of a body volume (3), particularly for the diagnosis of breast cancer According to the method, a sequence of X-ray projections (P, P′) from different directions is produced by a rotatable X-ray source (1) and a stationary digital X-ray detector (5). From these projections (P, P′), a set of sectional images (a, b, c, d) is calculated by tomosynthesis. A physician may indicate a suspicious structure on a reference image (R) that is derived from one of the projections (P, P′) or sectional images (a, b, c, d) and displayed on a monitor (6). The computer (7) may then locate the structure on all sectional images (a, b, c, d) and calculate the similarity of a corresponding image feature. The sectional 10 image at which the similarity is strongest then indicates the depth (z₀) at which the structure (4) is positioned in the body volume (3). Based on this information, a biopsy device (9) with a needle (10) can be advanced into the body volume (3) until it reaches the suspicious structure (4).

Claims

1. System for the investigation of a body volume (3), particularly for diagnosing breast cancer, comprising

an X-ray device (1, 5) for generating projections (P, P′

) of the body volume (3) from different directions;

a data processing unit (7) that is coupled to said X-ray device and adapted to reconstruct sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

) of the body volume (3) at different depths (z);

an indication device (8) for interactively indicating a structure of interest (4) in a reference image (R) which is derived from one of said projections (P, P′

) and/or sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

),

wherein the data processing unit (7) is adapted to estimate the depth (z) of said structure (4) in the body volume (3) with the help of said sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

).

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the data processing unit (7) is adapted to

a) determine a reference feature vector of said indicated structure of interest (4) on the reference image (R);

b) determine said feature vector at the corresponding locations in all sectional images (a, b, c, d) and quantify its similarity to the reference feature vector;

c) determine the depth (z₀) at which said similarity has an extreme value.

3. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the X-ray device comprises an X-ray source (1) that can be moved along a given trajectory, preferably along an arc (C) or a line, and a digital X-ray detector (5).

4. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing unit (7) is adapted to generate tomosynthetic images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

) of the body volume (3).

5. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a display device (6) for displaying said projections (P, P′

) and/or said sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

) of the body volume (3).

6. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an input device (8), preferably a mouse wheel, for inputting a continuous value which controls the choice of a sectional image (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

) that shall be processed.

7. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a biopsy device (9) with a needle (10) for extracting a sample of the structure of interest (4), said device being controlled by the data processing unit (7).

8. System according to claim 1, characterized in that it is adapted to reconstruct additional sectional images (b′

, b″

) of the body volume (3) for a fine-tuning of the depth estimation.

9. Method for the investigation of a body volume (3), particularly for diagnosing breast cancer, comprising the following steps:

a) generating X-ray projections (P, P′

) of the body volume (3) from different directions;

b) reconstructing sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

) of the body volume (3) at different depths (z) based on said projections (P, P′

);

c) displaying a reference image (R) that is derived from at least one of the projections (P, P′

) and/or sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

) in order to allow an interactive indication of a structure of interest (4);

d) estimating the depth (z₀) of said structure (4) in the body volume (3) with the help of the sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

).

10. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that the estimation of the depth (z₀) of the structure of interest (4) comprises following steps:

a) determination of a reference feature vector of said indicated structure of interest (4) on the reference image (R);

b) determination of said feature vector at the corresponding locations in all sectional images (a, b, c, d, b′

, b″

) and quantification of its similarity to the reference feature vector;

c) determination of the depth (z₀) at which the similarity of the feature vectors has an extreme value.

11. Method according to claim 9, characterized in that an instrument (10) is advanced into the body volume (3) to the estimated depth (z₀) of said structure of interest (4).