Computerized method for determination of the likelihood of malignancy fo pulmonary nodules on low-dose CT
First Claim
1. A method for determining if a pulmonary nodule is malignant, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining at least one computed tomography medical image of the pulmonary nodule;
obtaining at least one patient feature of a patient having the pulmonary nodule;
extracting image features of the pulmonary nodule from the at least one computed tomography medical image; and
evaluating whether the pulmonary nodule is malignant based on an examination of a total of seven of the patient or image features.
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Abstract
An automated computerized scheme for determination of the likelihood of malignancy in pulmonary nodules. The present invention includes steps of obtaining at least one computed tomography medical image of a pulmonary nodule in determining if the pulmonary nodule is malignant based on the examination of seven patient or image features. The method can be implemented when instructions are loaded into a computer to program the computer. The significance of employing seven patient or image features is that statistically, seven features are the most practical based on the unique implementation of statistical analysis. Out of the seven features that are now analyzed to determine if a pulmonary nodule is malignant, these features are selected to optimize the accuracy of the diagnosis of a pulmonary nodule. Through a unique sampling scheme, different embodiments of the present invention utilize different combinations of features to optimize the accuracy of the method of the present invention.
24 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for determining if a pulmonary nodule is malignant, comprising the steps of:
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obtaining at least one computed tomography medical image of the pulmonary nodule;
obtaining at least one patient feature of a patient having the pulmonary nodule;
extracting image features of the pulmonary nodule from the at least one computed tomography medical image; and
evaluating whether the pulmonary nodule is malignant based on an examination of a total of seven of the patient or image features. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for determining if a pulmonary nodule is malignant, comprising:
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a means for obtaining a medical image of the pulmonary nodule;
a means for obtaining patient features of a patient having the pulmonary nodule;
a means for obtaining image features of the pulmonary nodule from the analysis of the medical image.
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Specification