Methods for improving the accuracy in differential diagnosis on radiologic examinations
First Claim
1. A computer-aided method for classifying a digitized medical image of interest, comprising:
- a) locating at least one candidate abnormality in the digitized medical image of interest;
b) determining a region in which the at least one located candidate abnormality is located;
c) extracting features from at least one of
1) the at least one located candidate abnormality and
2) said region in which said at least one located candidate abnormality is located;
d) applying the extracted features to a neural network to produce a classification result;
e) calculating a likelihood of malignancy of said at least one candidate abnormality using at least one of the following equations, ##EQU16## wherein x is the classification result produced by the neural network, M(x) is the probability density function of the classification result x that said at least one candidate abnormality is actually malignant, B(x) is the analogous probability density function for actually benign cases, η
is the prevalence of malignant cases in a population studied; and
f) displaying the calculated likelihood of malignancy.
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Abstract
A computer-aided method for detecting, classifying, and displaying candidate abnormalities, such as microcalcifications and interstitial lung disease in digitized medical images, such as mammograms and chest radiographs, a computer programmed to implement the method, and a data structure for storing required parameters, wherein in the classifying method candidate abnormalities in a digitized medical image are located, regions are generated around one or more of the located candidate abnormalities, features are extracted from at least one of the located candidate abnormalities within the region and from the region itself, the extracted features are applied to a classification technique, such as an artificial neural network (ANN) to produce a classification result (i.e., probability of malignancy in the form of a number and a bar graph), and the classification result is displayed along with the digitized medical image annotated with the region and the candidate abnormalities within the region. In the detecting method candidate abnormalities in each of a plurality of digitized medical images are located, regions around one or more of the located candidate abnormalities in each of a plurality of digitized medical images are generated, the plurality of digitized medical images annotated with respective regions and candidate abnormalities within the regions are displayed, and a first indicator (e.g., blue arrow) is superimposed over candidate abnormalities comprising of clusters and a second indicator (e.g., red arrow) is superimposed over candidate abnormalities comprising of masses. In a user modification mode, during classification, a user modifies the located candidate abnormalities, the determined regions, and/or the extracted features, so as to modify the extracted features applied to the classification technique and the displayed results, and, during detection, a user modifies the located candidate abnormalities, the determined regions, and the extracted features, so as to modify the displayed results.
362 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A computer-aided method for classifying a digitized medical image of interest, comprising:
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a) locating at least one candidate abnormality in the digitized medical image of interest; b) determining a region in which the at least one located candidate abnormality is located; c) extracting features from at least one of
1) the at least one located candidate abnormality and
2) said region in which said at least one located candidate abnormality is located;d) applying the extracted features to a neural network to produce a classification result; e) calculating a likelihood of malignancy of said at least one candidate abnormality using at least one of the following equations, ##EQU16## wherein x is the classification result produced by the neural network, M(x) is the probability density function of the classification result x that said at least one candidate abnormality is actually malignant, B(x) is the analogous probability density function for actually benign cases, η
is the prevalence of malignant cases in a population studied; andf) displaying the calculated likelihood of malignancy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27)
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26. The method of claim to 21, wherein step f) comprises:
displaying a detailed view of one of clusters and masses indicated by one of first and second indicators upon one of a user touching one of the first and second indicators on a touch screen display and a user pointing to one of the first and second indicators with a pointing device.
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28. A computer program product comprising a computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to classify, and display candidate abnormalities in digitized medical images, by performing the following steps:
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a) locating at least one candidate abnormality in the digitized medical image of interest; b) determining a region in which the at least one located candidate abnormality is located; c) extracting features from at least one of
1) the at least one located candidate abnormality and
2) said region in which said at least one located candidate abnormality is located;d) applying the extracted features to a neural network to produce a classification result; e) calculating a likelihood of malignancy of said at least one candidate abnormality using at least one of the following equations, ##EQU17## wherein x is the classification result produced by the neural network, M(x) is the probability density function of the classification result x that said at least one candidate abnormality is actually malignant, B(x) is the analogous probability density function for actually benign cases, η
is the prevalence of malignant cases in a population studied; andf) displaying the calculated likelihood of malignancy.
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29. A system for classifying, a digitized medical image of interest, comprising:
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a first mechanism configured to locate at least one candidate abnormality in the digitized medical image of interest; a second mechanism configured to determine a region in which the at least one located candidate abnormality is located; a third mechanism configured to extract features from at least one of
1) the at least one located candidate abnormality and
2) said region in which said at least one located candidate abnormality is located;a fourth mechanism configured to apply the extracted features to a neural network to produce a classification result; a fifth mechanism configured to calculate a likelihood of malignancy of said at least one candidate abnormality using at least one of the following equations, ##EQU18## wherein x is the classification result produced by the neural network, M(x) is the probability density function of the classification result x that said at least one candidate abnormality is actually malignant, B(x) is the analogous probability density function for actually benign cases, η
is the prevalence of malignant cases in a population studied; anda sixth mechanism configured to display the calculated likelihood of malignancy. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification