Full field mammography with tissue exposure control, tomosynthesis, and dynamic field of view processing
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A tomosynthesis mammography method comprising:
- immobilizing a patient'"'"'s breast between compression surfaces that in turn are between a source of x-rays and an x-ray imaging receptor, said source having a focal spot from which it selectively emits x-rays toward the receptor;
selectively providing an anti-scatter grid that is retractable so that it can be removed from a space between the source of x-rays and the x-ray imaging receptor;
moving each of the source and the receptor to more than two different positions relative to the compression surfaces and the patient'"'"'s breast while the breast remains immobilized;
emitting, at each of said positions, x-rays from the source that pass through the breast and impinge on the receptor;
deriving, from the receptor, information related to respective two dimensional projection x-ray images for each of said positions;
adjusting the grid relative to the compression surfaces and the breast such that the partitions thereof are focused on the focal spot when the source emits said x-rays in at least one of said positions; and
processing the information related to at least some of said projection images of the breast to generate information representative of reconstructed tomosynthesis images that differ from said projection images.
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Abstract
A mammography system using a tissue exposure control relying on estimates of the thickness of the compressed and immobilized breast and of breast density to automatically derive one or more technic factors. The system further uses a tomosynthesis arrangement that maintains the focus of an anti-scatter grid on the x-ray source and also maintains the field of view of the x-ray receptor. Finally, the system finds an outline that forms a reduced field of view that still encompasses the breast in the image, and uses for further processing, transmission or archival storage the data within said reduced field of view.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A tomosynthesis mammography method comprising:
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immobilizing a patient'"'"'s breast between compression surfaces that in turn are between a source of x-rays and an x-ray imaging receptor, said source having a focal spot from which it selectively emits x-rays toward the receptor; selectively providing an anti-scatter grid that is retractable so that it can be removed from a space between the source of x-rays and the x-ray imaging receptor; moving each of the source and the receptor to more than two different positions relative to the compression surfaces and the patient'"'"'s breast while the breast remains immobilized; emitting, at each of said positions, x-rays from the source that pass through the breast and impinge on the receptor; deriving, from the receptor, information related to respective two dimensional projection x-ray images for each of said positions; adjusting the grid relative to the compression surfaces and the breast such that the partitions thereof are focused on the focal spot when the source emits said x-rays in at least one of said positions; and processing the information related to at least some of said projection images of the breast to generate information representative of reconstructed tomosynthesis images that differ from said projection images. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system comprising:
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compression surfaces defining a space in which a patient'"'"'s breast is immobilized for imaging; a source of x-rays at one side of the compression surfaces and an x-ray imaging receptor at another side of the compression surfaces and facing the source to receive therefrom x-rays that have passed through a breast immobilized in said space, said source having a focal spot from which it selectively emits x-rays toward the receptor; a support structure selectively moving at least one of the source and the receptor to more than two different imaging positions relative to the compression surfaces and a patient'"'"'s breast immobilized in said space; a control selectively energizing the source to emit, at each of said positions, x-rays that pass through the breast and impinge on the receptor and selectively causing the receptor to output information related to respective two-dimensional projection x-ray images for each of said imaging positions; an anti-scatter grid that is retractable so it can be removed from a space between one of said compression surfaces and said x-ray imaging receptor, said grid having partitions that are focused on the focal spot in the source when the grid is not retracted; and a computer configured to process the information related to said projection images in a tomosynthesis process to generate information representative of reconstructed tomosynthesis images of the breast. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A mammography method of producing reconstructed tomosynthesis images of a patient'"'"'s breast comprising:
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immobilizing a patient'"'"'s breast between a source of x-rays and an x-ray imaging receptor; moving at least one of the source and the receptor to more than two different imaging positions relative to the breast; wherein said receptor has an overall image area selectively outputting information describing an image of a size corresponding to said overall image area; emitting, at each of said positions, x-rays from the source that pass through the breast and impinge on the receptor while said breast remains immobilized between the source of x-rays and the imaging receptor; deriving, from the receptor, reduced field of view information describing respective two-dimensional projection x-ray images for each of said positions, each of said projection images having an image area smaller than said overall image area of the receptor; and processing the reduced field of view information into information describing reconstructed tomosynthesis images of the breast. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification