Matching Geometry Generation And Display Of Mammograms And Tomosynthesis Images

• US 20100195882A1
• Filed: 08/04/2009
• Published: 08/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hologic Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Hologic Incorporated
• Inventors: Wilson, Kevin, Ruth, Christopher, Ren, Baorui, Stein, Jay A., Smith, Andrew P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,155,421 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/131
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/502 for diagnosis of breast, i.e. mammography
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/006 Inverse problem, transformation from projection-space into object-space, e.g. transform methods, back-projection, algebraic methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10081 Computed x-ray tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30068 Mammography; Breast
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/02 Affine transformations for image registration G06T3/147; for image mosaicing G06T3/4038
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/30 Determination of transform parameters for the alignment of images, i.e. image registration

Abstract

A method and a system for using tomosynthesis projection images of a patient'"'"'s breast to reconstruct slice tomosynthesis images such that anatomical structures that appear superimposed in a mammogram are at conforming locations in the reconstructed images.

Claims

1-21. -21. (canceled)

22. A method comprising:

acquiring several 2D x-ray tomosynthesis projection images Tp of a patient'"'"'s breast taken at respective different angles of an imaging x-ray beam relative to the breast;

computer-processing the projection images Tp into reconstructed slice images Tr representing respective 3D slices of the breast;

each of said slice images Tr comprising respective pixel values of a respective array of pixels;

wherein the pixels of at least one of said slice images Tr represent respective slice volumes that differ in size from those represented by the pixels of at least another one of said slice images Tr at least in planes to which said slices conform; and

selectively displaying said slice images Tr on a computer display unit.

23. A method as in claim 22 where the slice volumes represented by pixies of the respective slice images Tr change progressively in size with distance of the slices from a source of said imaging x-ray beam.

24. A method as in claim 23 in which said imaging x-ray beam is a divergent x-ray beam imaging the breast at an image receptor, and said change in size causes objects in the breast that are along respective rays of said beam to appear at locations in said slice images Tr matching locations in which said object would have appeared in a mammogram of the breast.

25. A method as in claim 24 in which said computer-processing into slice images Tr comprises using a cone beam reconstruction process directly generating said slice images Tr.

26. A method as in claim 24 in which said computer-processing into slice images Tr comprises indirectly generating said slice images Tr by first using a reconstruction process to obtain initial slice images Tr(i) in a first coordinate system and further computer-processing said initial slice images Tr(i) to map them into a second coordinate system that differs from the first coordinate system.

27. A method as in claim 22 further comprising acquiring a mammogram of the breast, wherein objects in the breast appear in said slice images Tr at locations matching those in which the objects appear in the mammogram.

28. A method as in claim 22 in which said projection images Tp are acquired using an x-ray image receptor having an imaging plane, and said slice images Tr conform to planes selectively angled relative to said imaging plane.

29. A method as in claim 22 in which said projection images Tp are acquired using an x-ray image receptor having an imaging plane, wherein said slices conform to planes parallel to said imaging plane.

30. A method comprising:

acquiring several 2D x-ray tomosynthesis projection images Tp of a patient'"'"'s breast taken at different angles of an imaging x-ray beam relative to the breast;

computer-processing the projection images Tp into reconstructed slice images Tr representing respective 3D slices of the breast;

each of said slice images Tr comprising respective pixel values of a respective array of pixels;

wherein the pixels of at least one of said slice images Tr have different pixel spacing from the pixels of at least another one of said images Tr; and

selectively displaying said slice images Tr on a computer display unit.

31. A method comprising:

acquiring several 2D x-ray tomosynthesis projection images Tp of a patient'"'"'s breast taken at different angles of an imaging x-ray beam relative to the breast;

computer-processing the projection images Tp into reconstructed slice images Tr representing respective 3D slices of the breast;

said computer-processing comprising first reconstructing said projection images Tp into initial slice images Tr(i) in a first coordinate system and then computer-processing the initial slice images Tr(i) into a second, different coordinate system to generate said slice images Tr; and

selectively displaying said slice images Tr on a computer display unit.

32. A method as in claim 31 in which the pixels of said initial slice images Tr(i) represent voxels in the breast that are the same in size at least in planes to which the respective slices conform.

33. A method as in claim 32 in which different ones of said slice images Tr have pixels representing voxels differing in size at least in planes to which the respective slices conform.

34. A method as in claim 31 in which said initial slice images Tr(i) have the same pixel spacing.

35. A method as in claim 34 in which different ones of said slice images Tr have different pixel spacing.

36. An x-ray system comprising:

a data acquisition unit using x-rays emanating from an origin and an x-ray receptor acquiring several projection tomosynthesis images Tp of a patient'"'"'s breast taken at different angles of the x-rays relative to the breast;

an image reconstruction unit receiving the projection images Tp and reconstructing them into slice images Tr representing respective slices of the breast;

each of said slice images Tr comprising respective pixel values representing a respective array of pixels;

wherein the pixels of at least one of said slice images Tr represent voxels of the breast that differ in size from those represented by pixels in at least another one of said images Tr at least in planes to which the respective slices conform; and

a display unit selectively displaying one or more of the slice images Tr, said display unit comprising a user interface controlling the display of said images Tr.

37. A system as in claim 36 wherein said image reconstruction unit comprises a computer-implemented cone beam reconstruction algorithm directly generating the slice images Tr.

38. A system as in claim 36 wherein said image reconstruction unit comprises an algorithm indirectly generating said slice images Tr by first generating initial slice images Tr(i) having pixels representing voxels that are the same in size and then mapping said initial slice images Tr(i) into said slice images Tr.

39. A system as in claim 36 in which said data acquisition unit further acquires a mammogram of the breast, and objects in said slice images Tr images appear at locations matching the locations in which the objects appear in the mammogram.

40. An x-ray system comprising:

a data acquisition unit using x-rays emanating from an origin and an x-ray receptor acquiring several projection tomosynthesis images Tp of a patient'"'"'s breast taken at different angles of the x-rays relative to the breast;

an image reconstruction unit receiving the projection images Tp and reconstructing them into slice images Tr representing respective slices of the breast;

each of said slice images Tr comprising respective pixel values representing a respective array of pixels;

wherein the image reconstruction unit reconstructs said projection images Tp into initial slice images Tr(i) in a first coordinate system and then maps said initial slice images into said slice images Tr in a second, different coordinate system.