Medical Image Processing Apparatus for Lung Nodule Malignancy Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lung cancer detection methods using low-dose helical CT scans face challenges in accurately distinguishing nodular abnormalities from lung blood vessels, leading to inefficiencies in diagnosis and reliance on physician judgment due to the generation of numerous images and similar characteristics between nodules and blood vessels.
Innovation Solution
A medical image processing apparatus and method that acquires anatomical malignancy grades of abnormality candidate regions by analyzing characteristic amounts of both the candidate region and its peripheral area, determining an appropriate examination or treatment policy based on these grades, and presenting them to users, utilizing techniques like volume rendering and multi-planar reformation for three-dimensional image analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If multi-detector helical CT is used to image the entire lung, then imaging speed and resolution are improved, but the number of generated images increases to several-hundreds, increasing diagnostic burden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the most critical information from the several-hundreds CT images by automatically detecting nodular abnormalities and presenting a reduced set of relevant findings to physicians, thereby reducing diagnostic burden while maintaining imaging speed
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified representation or model of the complex CT data by generating automated detection results that copy only the essential abnormality information, allowing physicians to review a condensed version rather than all original images
2Object-affected harmful factors
If low-dose helical CT is used for lung cancer examination, then radiation exposure is reduced, but accurate distinction between nodular abnormalities and lung blood vessels becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent analyzes nodular abnormalities in three-dimensional space rather than only in two-dimensional cross-sections, enabling more accurate distinction between nodules and blood vessels by examining spatial relationships and morphological features across multiple planes and volumes
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs multiple characteristic amounts and evaluation criteria to assess nodular abnormalities, changing the parameters used for analysis to include not only density but also shape, size, margin characteristics, and spatial relationships, thereby improving detection accuracy under low-dose conditions
3Ease of operation
If only cross-sectional images are used for nodule judgment, then diagnostic process is simplified, but three-dimensional shape recognition and nodule-vessel discrimination become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges information from multiple imaging planes and three-dimensional reconstruction with cross-sectional views, combining the simplicity of 2D review with the diagnostic power of 3D shape recognition to enable accurate nodule-vessel discrimination while maintaining ease of use
Solution Approach 2:
The patent integrates three-dimensional spatial information and multi-planar reformation capabilities into the diagnostic workflow, allowing physicians to evaluate nodular abnormalities from multiple perspectives without abandoning the simplicity of cross-sectional review
Data Source
AI summary
A medical image processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit which acquires an anatomical malignant grade of an abnormality candidate region that is possibly an anatomical abnormality included in an image showing the inside of a subject based on a candidate region characteristic amount indicative of characteristics concerning the abnormality candidate region and a peripheral region characteristic amount indicative of characteristics concerning a peripheral region continuous with the abnormality candidate region in the image, a determination unit which determines an examination policy or a treatment policy with respect to the abnormality candidate based on the malignant grade, and a presentation unit which presents the examination policy or the treatment policy determined by the determination unit to a user.