BREAST TISSUE DENSITY MEASURE
First Claim
1. A method for ascribing coordinates to positions of points within an image performed in a suitably programmed computer and comprising for each point for which a set of coordinates is desired computing a first coordinate value s and a second coordinate value φ
- defining the position of said point in a coordinate system (s, φ
) wherein said coordinate system comprises a set of curves diverging from an apex point lying on a reference line which extends in a reference direction, each curve in said set of curves extending to intersect a base line extending from a first point to a second point, said first coordinate s representing a measure of a geodesic distance from said apex point along one said curve which contains said point, and said second coordinate φ
representing an angle made between said curve and said reference line at said apex point.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of processing a mammogram image to derive a value for a parameter useful in detecting differences in breast tissue in subsequent images of the same breast or relative to a control group of such images, said derived parameter being an aggregate probability score reflecting the probability of the image being a member of a predefined class of mammogram images, comprises computing for each of a multitude of pixels within a large region of interest within the image a pixel probability score assigned by a trained statistical classifier according to the probability of said pixel belonging to an image belonging to said class, said pixel probability being calculated on the basis of a selected plurality of features of said pixels, and computing said parameter by aggregating the pixel probability scores over said region of interest. Saud features may include the 3-jet of said pixels.
36 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for ascribing coordinates to positions of points within an image performed in a suitably programmed computer and comprising for each point for which a set of coordinates is desired computing a first coordinate value s and a second coordinate value φ
- defining the position of said point in a coordinate system (s, φ
) wherein said coordinate system comprises a set of curves diverging from an apex point lying on a reference line which extends in a reference direction, each curve in said set of curves extending to intersect a base line extending from a first point to a second point, said first coordinate s representing a measure of a geodesic distance from said apex point along one said curve which contains said point, and said second coordinate φ
representing an angle made between said curve and said reference line at said apex point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
- defining the position of said point in a coordinate system (s, φ
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13. A method of processing a mammogram image which includes a nipple and a chest wall to derive a value for a parameter useful in detecting differences in breast tissue in subsequent images of the same breast or relative to a control group of such images, said derived parameter being a parameter that changes alongside changes in breast density, the method comprising the steps of processing an image of at least part of a breast by:
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calculating in a suitably programmed computer for pixels of the image respective coordinates by a method comprising for each point for which a set of coordinates is desired computing a first coordinate value s and a second coordinate value φ
defining the position of said point in a coordinate system (s, φ
) wherein said coordinate system comprises a set of curves diverging from an apex point set at said nipple and lying on a reference line which extends in a reference direction, each curve in said set of curves extending to intersect a base line set generally to follow said chest wall and extending from a first point to a second point,said first coordinate s representing a measure of a geodesic distance from said apex point along one said curve which contains said point, and said second coordinate φ
representing an angle made between said curve and said reference line at said apex pointcomputing for pixels of the image a quotient value representative of the aspect ratio of tissue structures depicted in the image; using a trained classifier to classify said pixels according to their respective said quotient values and assigning a score to the respective pixels representing their classification with respect to at least two classes; deriving said parameter that changes alongside changes in breast density based on the aggregate pixel membership scores of said classes.
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Specification