Processing and displaying breast ultrasound information
First Claim
1. A method for presenting breast ultrasound information, comprising:
- generating a first thick-slice image representing a sonographic property within a first slab subvolume of a chestwardly compressed first breast of a patient by (i) imaging the chestwardly compressed first breast with an ultrasound imaging apparatus to thereby derive a first plurality of thin-slice images and (ii) computer-processing said first plurality of thin-slice images to thereby generate said first thick-slice image;
generating a second thick-slice image representing said sonographic property within a second slab subvolume of a chestwardly compressed second breast of the patient by (i) imaging the chestwardly compressed second breast to thereby derive a second plurality of thin-slice images and (ii) computer-processing said second plurality of thin-slice images to thereby generate said second thick-slice image, said first and second slab subvolumes occupying generally similar positions within the first and second breasts, respectively, said first and second slab subvolumes each being substantially parallel to a coronal plane of the patient; and
displaying said first and second thick-slice image adjacent each other for comparison of the first and second breasts relative to said sonographic property.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Displaying breast ultrasound information on an interactive user interface is described, the user interface being useful in adjunctive ultrasound mammography environments and/or ultrasound-only mammography environments. Bilateral comparison is facilitated by a pairwise display of thick-slice images corresponding to analogous slab-like subvolumes in the left and right breasts. Coronal thick-slice imaging and convenient navigation on and among coronal thick-slice images is described. In one preferred embodiment, a nipple marker is displayed the coronal thick-slice image representing a projection of a nipple location thereupon. A convenient breast icon is also displayed including a cursor position indicator variably disposed thereon in a manner that reflects a relative position between the cursor and the nipple marker. Preferably, the breast icon is configured to at least roughly resemble a clock face, the center of the clock face representing the nipple marker location. Bookmark-centric and CAD-marker-centric navigation within and among thick-slice images is also described.
-
Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A method for presenting breast ultrasound information, comprising:
-
generating a first thick-slice image representing a sonographic property within a first slab subvolume of a chestwardly compressed first breast of a patient by (i) imaging the chestwardly compressed first breast with an ultrasound imaging apparatus to thereby derive a first plurality of thin-slice images and (ii) computer-processing said first plurality of thin-slice images to thereby generate said first thick-slice image; generating a second thick-slice image representing said sonographic property within a second slab subvolume of a chestwardly compressed second breast of the patient by (i) imaging the chestwardly compressed second breast to thereby derive a second plurality of thin-slice images and (ii) computer-processing said second plurality of thin-slice images to thereby generate said second thick-slice image, said first and second slab subvolumes occupying generally similar positions within the first and second breasts, respectively, said first and second slab subvolumes each being substantially parallel to a coronal plane of the patient; and displaying said first and second thick-slice image adjacent each other for comparison of the first and second breasts relative to said sonographic property. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method for presenting breast ultrasound information, comprising;
-
generating a thick-slice image representing a sonographic property of a chestwardly compressed breast of a patient within a slab subvolume thereof by (i) imaging the chestwardly compressed breast with an ultrasound imaging apparatus to thereby derive a plurality of thin-slice images and (ii) computer-processing said plurality of thin-slice images to thereby generate said thick-slice image; wherein said slab subvolume has a thickness between 2 mm and 20 mm, and wherein said slab subvolume is substantially parallel to a coronal plane of the patient, further comprising; generating a nipple marker on said thick-slice image representing a projection of a nipple location thereupon, said sonograghic property being associated with a scan of a breast volume; wherein said nipple marker is positioned on the thick-slice image according to at least one of (i) a manually-entered nipple position provided with the scan, (ii) a computer-derived nipple position automatically generated from the scan, (ii) (iii) a computer-derived nipple position automatically generated based on manual placement of a physical nipple token for the scans, and (iii) a viewer-determined position for the nipple marker; and displaying said first thick-slice image and said nipple marker on a computerized display. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A method for presenting breast ultrasound information, comprising:
-
generating a thick-slice image representing a sonographic property of a chestwardly compressed breast of a patient within a slab subvolume thereof by (i) imaging the chestwardly compressed breast with an ultrasound imaging apparatus to thereby derive a plurality of thin-slice images each representing a thin slice of the breast and (ii) computer-processing said plurality of thin-slice images to thereby generate said thick-slice image, wherein said slab subvolume is substantially parallel to a coronal plane of the patient; displaying said thick-slice image on a computerized display; generating and displaying a nipple marker on said thick-slice image representing a projection of a nipple location thereupon; generating and displaying a cursor upon the thick-slice image according to a viewer manipulation of a pointing device associated with said display monitor; and generating and displaying a breast icon near said thick-slice image, said breast icon including a cursor position indicator variably disposed thereon in a manner that reflects a relative position between said cursor and said nipple marker on said thick-slice image. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method for presenting breast ultrasound information comprising:
-
compressing a patient'"'"'s breast chestwardly; acquiring a plurality of thin-slice ultrasound images representing a three-dimensional volume of the patient'"'"'s chestwardly compressed breast by scanning the chestwardly compressed patient'"'"'s breast in an automated scanning process in a scanning direction with an ultrasound transducer that is long in a direction transverse to the scanning direction, wherein; said thin-slice images conform to respective planes that are generally along the compression direction, and each of said thin-slice imaacs represents a thin slice of the patient'"'"'s breast; generating a plurality of two-dimensional coronal thick-slice images from the three-dimensional data volume, each coronal thick-slice image; representing said sonographic property of the breast as chestwardly compressed within a slab subvolume thereof substantially parallel to a coronal plane of the patient, and representing a thick-slice of the patient'"'"'s breast that is thicker than a slice represented by one of said thin-slice images; and displaying said coronal thick-slice images on a user display. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
-
Specification