Transillumination method apparatus for the diagnosis of breast tumors and other breast lesions by normalization of an electronic image of the breast
First Claim
1. A method of breast imaging for medical diagnosis of the presence of breast lesions comprising,passing a non-ionizing radiation through the breast in a range of frequencies which are differentially absorbed or transmitted by lesions within the breast,detecting the radiation which has passed through the breast,generating an electronic image of the breast,converting the image so generated into a digital format of pixel brightness values,electronically normalizing the digital image by compensating for the non-uniformity of the radiation field component of the image to enhance the contrast of areas representing locally high differential absorption or transmission of the radiation through the breast,and displaying the normalized image for analysis by a medical practitioner.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for enhancing the contrast of a local area of interest within an electronic image of an object, such as a female breast, which has been transilluminated by non-ionizing radiation such as light or sound. The area of interest may be a cancerous tumor, cyst or another object which differentially absorbs or transmits the radiation. Enhancement of contrast is by normalization of the electronic image. Normalization includes modeling the illumination field of the image to compensate for the non-uniformity of the illumination field, and then combining the modeled field with the original image. Four normalization processes are disclosed: Gaussian curve fitting, geometric mean smoothing, arithmetic mean smoothing, and arithmetic mean smoothing only within the boundary of the local area of interest. Also disclosed is a process for highlighting local areas which are the result of enhanced transmission of the radiation, such as potential cyst sites, and color mapping more than one displayed image. The normalized image may be displayed for analysis.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method of breast imaging for medical diagnosis of the presence of breast lesions comprising,
passing a non-ionizing radiation through the breast in a range of frequencies which are differentially absorbed or transmitted by lesions within the breast, detecting the radiation which has passed through the breast, generating an electronic image of the breast, converting the image so generated into a digital format of pixel brightness values, electronically normalizing the digital image by compensating for the non-uniformity of the radiation field component of the image to enhance the contrast of areas representing locally high differential absorption or transmission of the radiation through the breast, and displaying the normalized image for analysis by a medical practitioner.
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13. A method of breast imaging for medical diagnosis of the presence of breast lesions comprising,
passing a non-ionizing radiation through the breast in a range of frequencies which are differentially absorbed or transmitted by lesions within the breast, detecting the radiation which has passed through the breast, generating an electronic image of the breast, converting the image so generated into a digital format of pixel brightness values, electronically normalizing the digital image by compensating for the non-uniformity of the radiation field component of the image to enhance the contrast of areas representing locally high differential absorption or transmission of the radiation through the breast, said normalizing step including averaging the gray values representing the electromagnetic radiation field and determining the ratio of the original radiation field to the averaged field, and displaying the normalized image for analysis by a medical practitioner.
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24. A method of enhancing the contrast of a local area of interest within an electronic image resulting from passing radiation through an object which differentially absorbs the radiation, comprising:
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converting the image into a digital array of pixel gray values, normalizing the digital image to compensate for the non-uniformity of the radiation field and to enhance the contrast of areas representing locally high differential absorption of the radiation transmitted through the object, said normalizing step including modeling the illumination field to approximation of the desired field and then combining the original field with the modeled field, and displaying the normalized image for analysis. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37)
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38. Transillumination apparatus for enhancing the contrast of a local area of interest within an electronic image resulting from passing radiation through an object which differentially absorbs the radiation, comprising:
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a source of non-ionizing radiation of a frequency which can be transmitted through the object whose image is to be recorded, a detector for detecting the radiation which has passed through the object and transducing it into an electronic signal representative of the image, circuit means for converting the signal into a digital format of pixel brightness values, means for electronically normalizing the digital image by compensating for the non-uniformity of the radiation field component of the image to enhance the contrast of areas representing locally high differential absorption or transmission of the radiation transmitted through the object, said means for normalizing the digital image including modeling the illumination field to an approximation of the desired field and then combining original light field with the modeled field, and means for displaying the image. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification