Distributed architecture for mammographic image acquisition and processing
First Claim
1. A mammographic imaging system, comprising:
- mammographic image acquisition equipment including a patient support for supporting a patient'"'"'s breast in an imaging position, an imaging source for transmitting an imaging signal relative to said patient'"'"'s breast, and a digital detector for detecting said transmitted signal from said patient'"'"'s breast and providing a digital signal based on said detected signal, wherein said digital signal defines a first digital image of at least a portion of said patient'"'"'s breast;
an image acquisition station user interface for receiving user inputs from a first user of said mammographic image acquisition equipment to control a process for acquiring said first digital image of said patient'"'"'s breast; and
an image acquisition station controller, said controller being operative for;
receiving said user inputs from said image acquisition station user interface;
transmitting a controller output based on said user inputs to a remote processing platform, wherein said remote processing platform executes logic for use in operating said mammographic image acquisition equipment;
receiving a controller input from said remote processing platform; and
operating said mammographic image acquisition equipment based on said controller input from said remote processing platform, andwherein said digital image is stored in an image repository and said digital image is indexed to patient information and said patient information is organized in tables of cross-indexed data fields.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed architecture allows for decoupling of mammographic image acquisition and review, thereby enabling more efficient use of resources and enhanced processing. In one embodiment, the system (100) includes a number of image acquisition stations (102) and a number of image review stations (110) all associated with a central server (104). The server (104) is operative to access an image repository (106), a patient information data base (108) and a number of DICOM tools (112). The invention allows for more efficient and/or more convenient use of the image acquisition equipment and image processing stations. Moreover, the distributed architecture including the central image repository provides certain processing and analysis advantages. The invention also provides certain processing and workflow enhancements that allow for a more full realization of potential digital mammography advantages.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A mammographic imaging system, comprising:
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mammographic image acquisition equipment including a patient support for supporting a patient'"'"'s breast in an imaging position, an imaging source for transmitting an imaging signal relative to said patient'"'"'s breast, and a digital detector for detecting said transmitted signal from said patient'"'"'s breast and providing a digital signal based on said detected signal, wherein said digital signal defines a first digital image of at least a portion of said patient'"'"'s breast; an image acquisition station user interface for receiving user inputs from a first user of said mammographic image acquisition equipment to control a process for acquiring said first digital image of said patient'"'"'s breast; and an image acquisition station controller, said controller being operative for; receiving said user inputs from said image acquisition station user interface; transmitting a controller output based on said user inputs to a remote processing platform, wherein said remote processing platform executes logic for use in operating said mammographic image acquisition equipment; receiving a controller input from said remote processing platform; and operating said mammographic image acquisition equipment based on said controller input from said remote processing platform, and wherein said digital image is stored in an image repository and said digital image is indexed to patient information and said patient information is organized in tables of cross-indexed data fields. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A mammographic imaging system comprising:
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a first mammographic image acquisition station including an imaging source for transmitting an imaging signal relative to a patient'"'"'s breast, and a digital detector for detecting said transmitted signal from said patient'"'"'s breast and providing a digital signal based on said detected signal, wherein said digital signal defines a first digital image of at least a portion of said patient'"'"'s breast; an image acquisition station user interface for receiving user inputs from a first user of said first mammographic image acquisition station to control a process for acquiring said first digital image of said patient'"'"'s breast; and an image acquisition station controller operative for; receiving said user inputs from said image acquisition station user interface; transmitting a controller output based on said user inputs to a remote processing platform, wherein said remote processing platform executes logic for use in operating said first mammographic image acquisition station; receiving a controller input from said remote processing platform; and operating said first mammographic image acquisition station based on said controller input from said remote processing platform. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A mammographic imaging system comprising:
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a) a first mammographic image acquisition station including; an imaging source for transmitting an imaging signal relative to a patient'"'"'s breast; a digital detector for detecting said transmitted signal from said patient'"'"'s breast and providing a digital signal based on said detected signal, wherein said digital signal defines a first digital image of at least a portion of said patient'"'"'s breast; an image acquisition station user interface for receiving image acquisition inputs from a first user of said mammographic image acquisition station to control a process for acquiring said first digital image of said patient'"'"'s breast; and an image acquisition station controller operative for; providing said first digital image to an image repository for storing digital images, receiving said user inputs from said image acquisition station user interface, transmitting a controller output based on said user inputs to a remote processing platform, wherein said remote processing platform executes logic for use in operating said first mammographic image acquisition station, receiving a controller input from said remote processing platform; and operating said first mammographic image acquisition station based on said controller input from said remote processing platform; and b) a remote first mammographic image review station disposed at a location separate from said mammographic image acquisition station. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A mammographic imaging system comprising:
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an input port for receiving digital mammographic images from multiple mammographic image acquisition stations; a processor for use in storing said mammographic images in an image repository and providing access to said image repository; an output port for use in outputting one or more of said mammographic images to multiple mammographic image review stations; and a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in said image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users to annotate the original stored digital image, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another of said multiple users to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A mammographic imaging system comprising:
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an image repository for storing mammographic images obtained at multiple mammographic image acquisition stations and associated imaging information, said imaging information identifying at least a patient, a study, and a mammographic view associated with each of said mammographic images, wherein said imaging information is indexed to patient information and said patient information is organized in a number of tables of cross-indexed predefined image information fields; and a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in said image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users to annotate the original stored digital image, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another of said multiple users to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository.
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36. A mammographic imaging system comprising:
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mammographic image review equipment including a user interface for receiving user inputs from a user to control a process for reviewing digital mammographic images and at least one monitor for displaying mammographic images; and a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in an image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users to annotate the original stored digital image using said user interface, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another user at another review station to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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40. A computer program product for enabling a computer to manage storage of and access to digital mammographic images relative to multiple mammographic image acquisition stations and multiple mammographic image review stations, comprising:
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logical instructions for enabling the computer to perform predetermined operations; and a computer readable medium bearing the logical instructions;
the predetermined operations including the steps of;receiving digital mammographic images from the multiple mammographic image acquisition stations; storing the received mammographic images in an image repository; receiving queries from the multiple mammographic image review stations; processing the queries to obtain responsive mammographic image information; transmitting the responsive mammographic image information to the mammographic image review stations; and providing a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at the multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in said image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users at one of the multiple review stations to annotate the original stored digital image, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another user at another review station to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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42. A method for use in managing digital mammographic image information, comprising the steps of:
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receiving, at a processing platform, digital mammographic images from multiple mammographic image acquisition stations; storing the received mammographic images in an image repository associated with the processing platform; receiving, at the processing platform, queries from multiple mammographic image review stations; processing, at the processing platform, the queries to obtain responsive mammographic image information; transmitting the responsive mammographic image information from the processing platform to the mammographic image review stations; and providing a collaboration tool configured to enable collaborative review by multiple users at the multiple review stations of an original stored digital image stored in said image repository, said collaboration tool enabling one of said multiple users at one of the multiple review stations to annotate the original stored digital image, store the annotated digital image in said image repository and index the annotated digital image to the original stored digital image and enabling another user at another review station to retrieve the annotated digital image including the annotations from said image repository. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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Specification