Dual-Energy Contrast Quantification for Breast Image Artefacts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contrast-enhanced radiographic imaging (CE RI) methods struggle with quantifying contrast agent content in normal and cancerous tissues due to image superposition, artefacts, and varying image quality, which can lead to inaccurate diagnostic assessments and potential masking of lesions.
Innovation Solution
A system-agnostic method that uses low-energy (LE) and high-energy (HE) radiographic images to quantify contrast agent content in tissues, incorporating image formation physics models and breast composition analysis to correct for scatter and motion artefacts, providing accurate quantification and image quality assessment without system calibration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If contrast-enhanced radiographic imaging is performed using single-energy or dual-energy subtraction, then lesion conspicuity and functional information about vasculature are improved, but image superposition and artefacts increase, leading to reduced measurement precision of contrast agent content
Solution Approach 1:
The method segments the breast tissue into different compositional regions (fatty tissue, fibroglandular tissue, lesion tissue) using radiographic image analysis. This segmentation allows separate quantification of contrast agent content in each tissue type, resolving the superposition problem by analyzing tissue-specific attenuation properties rather than treating the entire breast as a homogeneous structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies local quality analysis by determining contrast agent content specifically within segmented tissue regions rather than globally. The system calculates contrast agent concentration in fatty tissue, fibroglandular tissue, and lesion tissue separately, allowing accurate local quantification even in the presence of image superposition and artefacts from dual-energy subtraction processing.
2Illumination intensity
If dual-energy decomposition is used to improve lesion detection and reduce masking by dense tissue, then image contrast between lesion and surrounding tissue is improved, but image quality varies and requires system calibration, increasing device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The method performs self-calibration by using the radiographic images themselves to determine tissue composition and contrast agent content without requiring external calibration objects or system-specific calibration procedures. The system automatically segments tissue types and calculates contrast agent concentrations based on the image data and known attenuation properties of breast tissues, making the quantification process system-agnostic and eliminating complex calibration requirements.
3Loss of information
If contrast agent is administered to improve lesion conspicuity and functional information, then diagnostic information is improved, but accurate quantification becomes difficult due to superposition of tissues and varying contrast agent distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The method changes the parameter of analysis from global image intensity to local tissue-specific contrast agent concentration. By segmenting the breast into distinct tissue types and calculating contrast agent content separately for each region, the system preserves functional vascular information while achieving precise quantification. The approach uses the differential attenuation of contrast agent in different tissue types to extract accurate concentration measurements despite superposition.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise quantification of contrast agent uptake in normal and cancerous tissues, identifies benign parenchymal enhancement, and assesses image quality, reducing the risk of false positives/negatives and improving diagnostic accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
CE RI combines the use of a radiopaque contrast agent with a radiographic imaging technique... based on differences in functional properties of tumour vessels that typically make them more porous to the contrast agent
Implementation Method 2
the relatively large x-ray attenuation difference between iodine and breast tissues beyond the iodine k-edge... the x-ray spectra used for SE CEDM imaging are shaped such that the mean x-ray energy lies above the iodine k-edge
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to contrast-enhanced radiographic imaging, the quantification of contrast agent in tissue and the assessment of the radiographic image quality. The invention provides a radiographic system-agnostic method to assess tissue administered with a radio-opaque contrast agent. The method is a system-agnostic means to accurately quantify contrast agent content in normal tissue and in cancerous tissue from contrast-enhanced radiographic images, and to assess and verify image quality and the efficacy of a clinical assessment from these images.