Method and system for the segmentation and classification of lesions
First Claim
1. In a method for the automated segmentation of an abnormality in a medical image, the improvement comprising:
- acquiring first image data representative of the medical image;
locating a suspicious site at which the abnormality may exist;
establishing a seed point within the suspicious site;
applying a constraint function relative to the suspicious site based on the location of the seed point; and
preprocessing the suspicious site with the constraint function, including multiplying the first image by the constraint function, to produce second image data in which pixel values distant of the seed point are suppressed.
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Abstract
A method for the automated segmentation of an abnormality in a medical image, including acquiring first image data representative of the medical image; locating a suspicious site at which the abnormality may exist; establishing a seed point within the suspicious site; and preprocessing the suspicious site with a constraint function to produce second image data in which pixel values distant of the seed point are suppressed. Preprocessing includes using an isotropic Gaussian function centered on the seed point as the constraint function, or for example using an isotropic three dimensional Gaussian function centered on the seed point as the constraint function. The method further includes applying plural thresholds to the second image data to partition the second image data at each threshold; identifying corresponding first image data for the partitioned second image data obtained at each respective threshold; determining a respective index for each of the partitioned first image data; and determining a preferred partitioning, for example that partitioning leading to a maximum index value, based on the indices determined at each threshold, and segmenting the lesion based on the partitioning established by the threshold resulting in the maximum index. If desired, the first image data with the partitioning defined by the threshold which is determined to result in the maximum index, is then displayed. A system and computer readable storage medium are also provided, likewise using the radial gradient index (RGI) or a simple probabilistic models to segment mass lesions, or other similar nodular structures, from surrounding background. In the system, a series of image partitions is likewise created using gray-level information as well as prior knowledge of the shape of typical mass lesions. When the RGI is used, the partition that maximizes RGI is selected. When a probability model is used, probability distributions for gray-levels inside and outside the partitions are estimated, and subsequently used to determine the probability that the image occurred for each given partition. The partition that maximizes this probability is selected as the final lesion partition (contour).
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. In a method for the automated segmentation of an abnormality in a medical image, the improvement comprising:
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acquiring first image data representative of the medical image; locating a suspicious site at which the abnormality may exist; establishing a seed point within the suspicious site; applying a constraint function relative to the suspicious site based on the location of the seed point; and preprocessing the suspicious site with the constraint function, including multiplying the first image by the constraint function, to produce second image data in which pixel values distant of the seed point are suppressed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a system for the automated segmentation of an abnormality in a medical image, the improvement comprising:
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a memory having embodied therein medical image information; and a processor coupled to the memory the processor configured to; acquire first image data representative of the medical image; locate a suspicious site at which the abnormality may exist; apply a constraint function relative to the suspicious site based on the location of a seed point; and preprocess the suspicious site with the constraint function and multiply the first image by the constraint function, to produce second image data in which pixel values distant of the seed point are suppressed. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer readable medium storing computer instructions for the automated segmentation of an abnormality in a medical image, by performing the steps of:
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acquiring first image data representative of the medical image; locating a suspicious site at which the abnormality may exist; establishing a seed point within the suspicious site; applying a constraint function relative to the suspicious site based on the location of the seed point; and preprocessing the suspicious site with the constraint function, including multiplying the first image by the constraint function, to produce second image data in which pixel values distant of the seed point are suppressed. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification