Composite Mammography Tomosynthesis Imaging for Faster Spicula Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image processing methods struggle to accurately detect spicula, a radial line structure indicative of breast cancer, in a short processing time, especially when distinguishing it from normal mammary glands, and three-dimensional analysis is time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
An image processing device and method that detects spicula candidate regions from tomographic images, selects corresponding tomographic images with the same radial structure, and generates a composite two-dimensional image for accurate spicula detection, reducing processing time by analyzing this image.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If three-dimensional analysis is performed to distinguish spicula from normal mammary glands, then detection accuracy is improved, but processing time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the most relevant tomographic image slices that contain spicula candidate regions, rather than performing comprehensive three-dimensional analysis on all volume data. This selective extraction maintains detection accuracy while significantly reducing processing time by eliminating unnecessary computational steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the three-dimensional volume data into individual two-dimensional tomographic image slices, then selectively processes only those slices containing spicula candidates. This segmentation allows the system to maintain the benefits of three-dimensional analysis where needed while avoiding the time cost of processing the entire volume.
2Measurement precision
If multiple tomographic images are combined to generate composite two-dimensional image, then spicula detection accuracy is improved, but data storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential tomographic image slices needed for spicula detection and combines these into a composite two-dimensional image. This approach maintains high detection accuracy by including relevant data while reducing storage requirements by eliminating redundant three-dimensional volume data.
3Loss of information
If comprehensive three-dimensional volume data is analyzed, then complete lesion information is obtained, but interpretation burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts spicula candidate regions from three-dimensional volume data and represents them in a simplified composite two-dimensional image format. This maintains complete lesion information for diagnostic purposes while significantly reducing the interpretation burden by presenting data in a more manageable visual format.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring doctors to interpret complex three-dimensional volume data directly, the patent inverts the approach by projecting the three-dimensional information onto a two-dimensional composite image that preserves all essential diagnostic features while being easier to interpret.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing device detects a spicula candidate region having a radial line structure from each of a plurality of tomographic images indicating a plurality of tomographic planes of an object, selects, as a tomographic image group, a plurality of the tomographic images corresponding to a plurality of the spicula candidate regions indicating the same radial line structure among a plurality of the detected spicula candidate regions, and generates a composite two-dimensional image using the selected tomographic image group.