Synthetic Mammogram Generation During Scan Acquisition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mammography imaging systems often produce low-quality or irrelevant imagery, which can lead to unnecessary x-ray exposure and dosage, posing health risks and wasting valuable diagnostic time.
Innovation Solution
An image processing system that generates and displays partial image segments in quasi-real-time during the scanning process, allowing for early verification of image quality and relevance, enabling the system to abort scans if necessary and minimize dosage by providing visual feedback on acquired scan data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complete image acquisition is performed before verification, then complete image data is obtained, but unnecessary x-ray exposure and dosage occur when image quality is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary verification by generating and displaying a synthetic mammogram during the scanning acquisition process, allowing quality assessment before the complete scan is finished. This enables early detection of insufficient image quality and prevents unnecessary completion of scans that would result in wasted dosage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time visual feedback by displaying the synthesized image segment during acquisition. This feedback loop allows operators to monitor image quality continuously and make informed decisions about whether to continue or abort the scan, thereby optimizing radiation dosage usage.
2Loss of information
If complete scan acquisition is performed, then complete imagery is produced, but diagnostic time is wasted when imagery is irrelevant
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of image relevance by displaying synthesized segments during acquisition. This allows early determination of whether the captured imagery contains diagnostically relevant information, preventing waste of time on irrelevant scans.
Solution Approach 2:
Real-time visual feedback during acquisition enables operators to assess whether the imagery is becoming relevant to the diagnostic task. This continuous monitoring allows for timely termination of scans that are not yielding useful diagnostic information.
3Measurement precision
If real-time visualization during scan is implemented, then early verification is enabled, but computational processing time is required during acquisition
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the complete image into segments and processes only the currently acquired portion for real-time display. This segmentation approach reduces computational complexity compared to processing the entire image, while still enabling quality verification during acquisition.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a synthetic copy of the mammogram from the projection data during acquisition rather than processing the complete original image. This synthetic approximation provides sufficient quality assessment information with reduced computational requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus (IP) comprising an input port (IN) for receiving projection data through respective 3D locations in an imaging region, said projection date collected in a scan operation by an imaging apparatus (IM). An image segment generator (IGS) of said apparatus (IP) is configured to generate, based on said projection data, a first image segment for said 3D locations. A visualizer (VIZ) configured to effect displaying said first image segment on a display device before or whilst the image apparatus collects projection data for a different 3D location.