Integrated Breast X-Ray and Molecular Imaging System

• US 20100260316A1
• Filed: 04/13/2009
• Published: 10/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hologic Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Hologic Incorporated
• Inventors: DeFreitas, Ken F., Shaw, Ian, Stein, Jay, Ren, Baorui, Smith, Andrew P., Zhenxue, Jing, Brooks, Ken
• Granted Patent: US 8,217,357 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 378/37
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/025 Tomosynthesis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/037 Emission tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/0414 with compression means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/06 Diaphragms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4021 involving movement of the focal spot
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4291 the detector being combined with a grid or grating
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4411 the apparatus being modular A61B6/4283 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/4441 the rigid structure being a C-arm or U-arm
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/502 for diagnosis of breast, i.e. mammography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/5235 combining images from the same or different ionising radiation imaging techniques, e.g. PET and CT

Abstract

An integrated tomosynthesis/molecular breast imaging device having improved sensitivity includes tomosynthesis imaging components and molecular breast imaging components. The imaging components may be used individually or in combination to provide a system with improved sensitivity and specificity. Molecular imaging components may be smoothly advanced or withdrawn depending upon the desired imaging mode. The system supports both PET and SPECT imaging and enables SPECT collimation to be modified in accordance with image capture requirements.

Claims

1. A breast imaging device comprising:

tomosynthesis imaging components for obtaining tomosynthesis images of an anatomical structure of a breast; and

molecular imaging components for obtaining molecular breast images of a physiological structure of the breast.

2. The breast imaging device of claim 1 further comprising a compression assembly mounted on a gantry base and a receptor housing coupled to the gantry base.

3. The breast imaging system of claim 2 wherein the tomosynthesis imaging components comprise:

an x-ray assembly pivotably mounted on the gantry base, the x-ray assembly comprising an x-ray source mounted on an x-support arm; and

a digital detector disposed within the receptor housing.

4. The breast imaging system of claim 3 wherein a target of the x-ray source is selected from a group including tungsten and rhodium.

5. The breast imaging system of claim 1 wherein the molecular imaging components comprise at least one positionable gamma camera.

6. The breast imaging system of claim 5 wherein a positioning of the positionable gamma camera is motor controlled.

7. The breast imaging system of claim 5 wherein a positioning of the positionable gamma camera is manually controlled.

8. The breast imaging system of claim 5 wherein the positionable gamma camera is at least one of retractable, rotatable and pivotable.

9. The breast imaging system of claim 5 wherein the molecular imaging components comprise a first positionable gamma camera coupled to the gantry base and a second positionable gamma camera selectively disposed within the receptor housing.

10. The breast imaging system of claim 5 wherein the gamma camera includes a removable collimator.

11. The breast imaging system of claim 8 wherein the removable collimator is at least one of retractable from the receptor housing, removable from the receptor housing or ejectable from the receptor housing.

12. The breast imaging system of claim 10 wherein movement of the collimator is motor controlled.

13. The breast imaging system of claim 10 wherein movement of the collimator is manually controlled.

14. The breast imaging system of claim 1 wherein the molecular imaging components comprise at least two collimators.

15. The breast imaging system of claim 1 wherein the molecular imaging components include a collimator with moveable collimation.

16. The breast imaging system of claim 5 wherein the at least one positionable gamma camera is a Positron Emission camera.

17. The breast imaging system of claim 5 wherein the at least one positionable gamma camera is a Single Photon Emission camera.

18. The breast imaging system of claim 1 further comprising a display for displaying the tomosynthesis images and the molecular breast images.

19. The breast imaging system of claim 18 wherein the tomosynthesis images comprise tomosynthesis projection images (Tp) and tomosynthesis reconstructed (Tr) images, and wherein the molecular breast images (MBI) comprise at least one of MBI projection images and MBI reconstructed images, and wherein the display is adapted to display any two of the Tr, Tp, MBI projection and MBI reconstructed images in any one of a cine mode, toggle mode, thumbnail mode or side by side mode.

20. The breast imaging system of claim 1 further comprising computer aided detection (CAD) tools for identifying potential lesions in any of the tomosynthesis and molecular breast images.

21. The breast imaging system of claim 2 wherein the receptor housing is sized to accommodate a digital detector, a gamma camera and an anti-scatter grid.

22. The breast imaging system of claim 1 wherein the tomosynthesis imaging component includes a digital detector, the molecular imaging components include a gamma detector and wherein the digital detector and gamma detector differ in size.

23. The breast imaging system of claim 22 wherein the molecular imaging components include a pair of gamma detectors, and wherein at least two of the tomosynthesis detector and pair of gamma detectors differ in size.

24. The breast imaging system of claim 2 wherein the compression assembly is used for both tomosynthesis imaging and molecular imaging, and wherein the compression assembly applies a different amount of compression for tomosynthesis imaging than for molecular imaging.

25. A method of imaging a breast in an integrated tomosynthesis/molecular breast imaging (T/MBI) device includes the steps of:

immobilizing the breast;

performing a tomosynthesis scan of the breast;

obtaining a molecular image of the breast; and

decompressing the breast.

26. The method of claim 25, further including the step of varying a compression of the breast between the step of performing the tomosynthesis scan and the step of obtaining the molecular image.

27. The method of claim 25 further including the step of removing molecular imaging components from an xray field of view prior to performing the tomosynthesis scan of the breast.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein the step of obtaining a molecular image of the breast includes the step of advancing a gamma camera proximate to the compressed breast.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the T/MBI device includes a gantry comprised of an x-ray assembly, a gantry base and a receptor housing and wherein the step of advancing a gamma camera proximate to the compressed breast includes the step of moving a gamma camera from within the gantry base into the receptor housing.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein the T/MBI device includes a gantry comprised of an x-ray assembly, a gantry base and a receptor housing, and wherein a compression assembly including a compression paddle having a compression well is slideably mounted to the gantry base, and wherein the step of advancing a gamma camera proximate to the compressed breast includes the step of moving a gamma camera from within the gantry base into the compression well of the compression paddle.

31. A method of obtaining a molecular breast image using a gamma camera comprising a collimator includes the steps of:

immobilizing a breast;

obtaining a first exposure of the breast to identify a suspect lesion;

modifying the collimator of the gamma camera; and

obtaining a second exposure of the breast, wherein the step of modifying the collimator focuses imaging on the suspect lesion.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein a first duration of the first exposure is smaller than a second duration of the second exposure.

33. The method of 31 wherein the step of modifying the collimator of the gamma camera is motor controlled.

34. A method of obtaining a molecular breast image using a gamma camera comprising a collimator includes the steps of:

immobilizing a breast;

obtaining a first exposure of the breast;

modifying a position of the gamma camera; and

obtaining a second exposure of the breast.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the step of modifying the position of the gamma camera directs the gamma camera towards at least one of the axilla and the chest wall.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein the step of modifying the position is motor controlled.

37. A method of obtaining three-dimensional image data of a breast using a Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT) gamma camera includes the step of:

immobilizing a breast that has been injected with a radioisotope;

obtaining a plurality of molecular images of the breast by positioning the SPECT camera at a plurality of different positions relative to the breast for an exposure period to obtain a plurality of SPECT projection images; and

reconstructing the projection images into a three-dimensional data set for display on a display device.