Multi-modality Mammography Scanner Parallel Plane Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cancer screening techniques using x-ray and ultrasound imaging in mammography face challenges such as limited resolution in the longitudinal direction, false positives, and difficulty in comparing images due to different scanning positions and modalities, leading to anxiety and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A scanner and method that integrate x-ray and ultrasound imaging to generate images of parallel planes, allowing for spatial registration and fusion of data to provide more accurate and comprehensive images of breast tissue, reducing false positives and improving diagnostic confidence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If x-ray and ultrasound imaging are performed separately at different times and positions, then each modality can be optimized independently, but the images cannot be easily compared and diagnostic accuracy is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines x-ray and ultrasound imaging systems into a single integrated scanner that can acquire both modalities simultaneously or sequentially in the same physical position. The system includes an x-ray source, detector array, and ultrasound transducer array positioned to image the same region (e.g., breast tissue) without requiring patient repositioning, enabling direct comparison and fusion of images from both modalities.
2Productivity
If 2-D x-ray images are used for screening, then the examination is quick and simple, but resolution in the longitudinal direction is limited and masses may be masked by denser structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds the ultrasound dimension to the traditional 2-D x-ray screening by acquiring ultrasound images at multiple depths or using 3-D ultrasound transducer arrays. This provides longitudinal (depth) information that complements the 2-D x-ray projection, allowing differentiation of masses at different depths and reducing masking effects while maintaining screening efficiency.
3Measurement precision
If ultrasound imaging is performed with the patient flat on their back, then image quality is improved by reducing sound wave travel distance, but the scanning position differs from x-ray mammography making comparison difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated scanner allows both x-ray and ultrasound imaging to be performed with the patient in the same position (e.g., standing or seated), eliminating the need to reposition the patient between modalities. The system coordinates both imaging systems to acquire data from the same anatomical region in the same physical configuration, enabling direct image comparison while maintaining optimal ultrasound image quality.
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
Enhances image resolution and accuracy by aligning x-ray and ultrasound images, reducing false positives and patient anxiety through simultaneous data acquisition, improving diagnostic confidence and reducing the need for additional testing.
Implementation Method 1
The x-ray tube emits x-rays, and the x-rays traverse the breast tissue, while it is compressed between the two paddles. X-rays that traverse the breast tissue are detected by the detector array.
Implementation Method 2
Typically, an ultrasound probe transmits high-frequency sound waves (e.g., pulses) into the object under examination. As the sound waves travel through the object, some of the sound waves interact with a more dense target (e.g., mass, scar tissue, etc.), for example, that reflects a larger number of sound waves and/or causes a more significant attenuation of the sound waves
Data Source
AI summary
The techniques described herein provide a means for generating an x-ray image and ultrasound image depicting parallel planes of an object under examination and may be used in conjunctions with x-ray or ultrasound techniques known to those in the field (e.g., x-ray tomosynthesis, computed tomography ultrasound imaging, etc.). In one example, one or more x-ray images are spatially coincident to one or more ultrasound images and the images may be combined through spatial registration. It finds particular application to mammography examinations but may be used in other fields that use information from multiple modalities.