METHOD APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING THERMAL IMAGES

• US 20100284592A1
• Filed: 11/28/2008
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Real Imaging Ltd (Real Imaging Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Real Imaging Ltd (Real Imaging Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Arnon, Israel B., Arieli, Yoel
• Granted Patent: US 8,620,041 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/015 By temperature mapping of body part
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10048 Infrared image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20108 Interactive selection of 2D slice in a 3D data set
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30068 Mammography; Breast
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0004 Industrial image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/41 based on statistical description of texture

Abstract

A method of analyzing a thermal image of a body section is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a thermospatial representation of the body section, calculating a surface integral of the thermal data over the surface, and determining the likelihood that a thermally distinguishable region is present in the body section, based on a value of the surface integral.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing a thermal image of a body section, comprising:

obtaining a thermospatial representation having thermal data representing the thermal image and spatial data representing a non-planar surface of the body section, said thermal data being associated with said spatial data;

calculating a surface integral of said thermal data over said surface; and

determining the likelihood that a thermally distinguishable region is present in said body section, based on a value of said surface integral.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining said likelihood comprises comparing said surface integral value to a value of at least one reference surface integral corresponding to a reference thermospatial representation.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising using said surface integral value for calculating an amount or rate of heat efflux from the body section.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said determining said likelihood comprises comparing said amount or rate of heat efflux to an amount or rate of heat efflux calculated using a value of at least one reference surface integral corresponding to a reference thermospatial representation.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising using said surface integral value for calculating a statistical moment of said thermal data over said surface.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said determining said likelihood comprises comparing said statistical moment to a statistical moment calculated using a value of at least one reference surface integral corresponding to a reference thermospatial representation.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining a region-of-interest within said surface wherein said surface integral is calculated over said region-of-interest.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising slicing said surface to a plurality of slices wherein said surface integral is calculated separately for each slice.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising iteratively repeating said slicing and said calculation of said surface integral.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein said determining said likelihood comprises calculating variation of a value of said surface integral among different slices.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said determining said likelihood comprises comparing said variations to variations of at least one reference surface integral over a reference thermospatial representation.

14. The method of claim 4, wherein said at least one reference thermospatial representation describes a reference body other than the body section and being similar in shape thereto.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein said at least one reference thermospatial representation comprises history data of the body section.

16. The method of claim 4, wherein said reference surface integral corresponds to a reference body section other than the body section and being devoid of thermally distinguishable region therein.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the body section is a first breast of a woman and said reference body section is a second breast of said woman.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the body section is a part of a first breast of a woman and said reference body section is a part of a second breast of said woman.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein said spatial data comprises data representing a surface of tissue being nearby to the body section and the method comprises defining a spatial boundary between the surface of the body section and said surface of said nearby tissue.

2. A method of monitoring evolution of a tumor in a body section, the method comprising:

(a) generating a series of thermospatial representations, each having thermal data representing the thermal image and spatial data representing a non-planar surface of the body section, said thermal data being associated with said spatial data;

(b) for each thermospatial representation, calculating a surface integral of respective thermal data over respective surface, thereby providing a series of surface integral values; and

(c) comparing at least two of said surface integral values, and using said comparison for assessing whether the size of the tumor varies, thereby monitoring the evolution of the tumor.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising applying a destructive treatment to the tumor, wherein said comparison is used for assessing whether the size of the tumor is stable reduced.

20. Apparatus for analyzing a thermal image of a body section, comprising:

an input unit for receiving a thermospatial representation having thermal data representing the thermal image and spatial data representing a non-planar surface of the body section, said thermal data being associated with said spatial data;

an integration unit for calculating a surface integral of said thermal data over said surface; and

an output unit for issuing a report regarding a value of said surface integral.

21. An imaging and processing system, comprising:

an thermospatial imaging system operable to provide a thermospatial representation of a body section, said thermospatial representation having thermal data representing the thermal image and spatial data representing a non-planar surface of the body section, said thermal data being associated with said spatial data; and

the apparatus of claim 20.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus further comprises a heat calculator for calculating an amount or rate of heat efflux from the body section using a value of said surface integral.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus further comprises a statistical moment calculator for calculating statistical moment of said thermal data over said surface using a value of said surface integral.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus further comprises a slicing unit for slicing said surface to a plurality of slices wherein said surface integral is calculated separately for each slice.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said spatial data comprises data representing a surface of tissue being nearby to the body section and the apparatus comprises a boundary definition unit for defining a spatial boundary between the surface of the body section and said surface of said nearby tissue.