Multimodality 2D to 3D imaging navigation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10796430-B2
Application number	US-201815960803-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 24, 2018
Priority date	Apr 24, 2018
Publication date	Oct 6, 2020
Grant date	Oct 6, 2020

Abstract

A system and method for the detection of ROIs in images obtained of a breast or other tissue of a patient significantly improves the speed and precision/accuracy of navigation between multimodality 2D and 3D images. In the system and method, images of the tissue are obtained in a DBT acquisition to generate a synthetic 2D image of the imaged tissue and in a 3D, e.g., ultrasound, image acquisition. The 2D image generation process creates a synthetic 2D image that embed a navigation map correlating pixels in the 2D images to sections of the 3D ultrasound volume, such as via a registration between the 3D ultrasound volume and a 3D volume created using the DBT image data. When a synthetic 2D image is reviewed, an ROI on the 2D image is selected and the system will additionally present the user with the section of the 3D volume containing that ROI.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of navigating between images of an object obtained in different imaging modalities of the object, the method comprising:
obtaining a number of x-ray images of the object at varying angles relative to the object in a digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) acquisition;
obtaining a three-dimensional (3D) volumetric image of the object in a 3D imaging acquisition;
forming a DBT volume of the object from the x-ray images;
forming a synthetic two-dimensional (2D) image of the object from the x-ray images and/or the DBT volume;
forming a navigation map correlating pixels of the synthetic 2D image with associated planes in the DBT volume;
correlating the 3D volumetric image from the 3D imaging acquisition with the DBT volume from the DBT acquisition;
displaying the synthetic 2D image; and
displaying a section of the 3D volumetric image corresponding to a location of a pixel in the synthetic 2D image in response to a selection of the pixel in the displayed synthetic 2D image,
wherein the step of forming the synthetic 2D image further comprises the steps of:
detecting one or more volumes of interest (VOIs) within the 3D volumetric image;
determining the positions of the one or more VOIs from the 3D volumetric image within the DBT volume;
reprojecting the VOIs from the DBT volume; and
modifying the navigation map to include the location of the VOIs.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining a number of x-ray images of the object and the step of obtaining a 3D volumetric image of the object occur with the object in the same position.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of forming the navigation map comprises associating a height value to each pixel of the synthetic 2D image corresponding to a position in the 3D volumetric image.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the VOI reprojections are blended onto the synthetic 2D image after formation of the synthetic 2D image.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the VOI reprojections are utilized to enrich the synthetic 2D image during formation of the synthetic 2D image.

6. A method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of representing a boundary overlay of the VOI from the DBT volume within the synthetic 2D image.

7. A method of navigating between images of an object obtained in different imaging modalities of the object, the method comprising:
obtaining a number of x-ray images of the object at varying angles relative to the object in a digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) acquisition;
obtaining a three-dimensional (3D) volumetric image of the object in a 3D imaging acquisition;
forming a DBT volume of the object from the x-ray images;
forming a synthetic two-dimensional (2D) image of the object from the x-ray images and/or the DBT volume;
forming a navigation map correlating pixels of the synthetic 2D image with associated planes in the DBT volume;
correlating the 3D volumetric image from the 3D imaging acquisition with the DBT volume from the DBT acquisition;
displaying the synthetic 2D image; and
displaying a section of the 3D volumetric image corresponding to a location of a pixel in the synthetic 2D image in response to a selection of the pixel in the displayed synthetic 2D image, further comprising the steps of:
detecting a position of the nipple within the 3D volumetric image;
locating the position of the nipple from the 3D volumetric image into the DBT volume; and
representing the nipple in the synthetic 2D image.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein the step of representing the nipple in the synthetic 2D image includes representing a distance from a selected pixel in the synthetic 2D image to the nipple.

9. A method according to claim 7 wherein the step of representing the nipple in the synthetic 2D image includes representing a clockwise position relative to the nipple of a selected pixel in the synthetic 2D image.

10. A method according to claim 7 further comprising the step of illustrating a cursor on the synthetic 2D image and the section of the 3D volumetric image on the display, wherein the cursor represents the location of the selected pixel in the synthetic 2D image and the corresponding position in the section of the 3D volumetric image.

11. A system for assisting a user in navigating through 2D and 3D image data to locate a region of interest within a breast tissue, the system comprising:
a 2D image acquisition system for acquiring 2D image data;
a 3D image acquisition system for acquiring 3D image data;
an analysis module operably connected to the 2D image acquisition system and the 3D image acquisition system and configured:
to generate a synthetic 2D image and a DBT volume from the acquired 2D image data;
to generate a 3D volume from the 3D image data;
to correlate locations within the DBT volume to locations within the 3D image volume;
to generate a navigation map providing information for locations of each pixel in the synthetic 2D image corresponding to a plane in the DBT volume and the 3D image volume; and
to select and present a section within the 3D volume corresponding to the navigation map information for a pixel selected within the synthetic 2D image;

a display operably connected to the analysis module and operable to display the synthetic 2D image and sections of the 3D volume; and
an input operably connected to the analysis module and configured to receive commands from a user regarding the selection of a pixel within the synthetic 2D image present on the display;
wherein the analysis module is further configured to generate the synthetic 2D image by:
detecting one or more volumes of interest (VOIs) within the 3D volumetric image;
determining the positions of the one or more VOIs from the 3D volumetric image within the DBT volume;
reprojecting the VOIs from the DBT volume; and
modifying the navigation map to include the location of the VOIs.

12. A system according to claim 11 wherein the 3D image acquisition system is an automated breast ultrasound system (ABUS) or a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system.

13. A system according to claim 11 further comprising a computer aided detection system associated with the analysis module and configured with the analysis module to:
detect regions of interest within the 3D volume;
update the navigation map with the locations of the regions of interest (ROIs); and
optionally enhance the synthetic 2D image to illustrate the ROIs.

14. A system according to claim 11 wherein the analysis module presents a cursor on the synthetic 2D image and the section of the 3D volume on the display, wherein the cursor represents the location of the selected pixel in the synthetic 2D image and the section of the 3D volume.

15. A system for assisting a user in navigating through 2D and 3D image data to locate a region of interest within a breast tissue, the system comprising:
a 2D image acquisition system for acquiring 2D image data;
a 3D image acquisition system for acquiring 3D image data;
an analysis module operably connected to the 2D image acquisition system and the 3D image acquisition system and configured:
to generate a synthetic 2D image and a DBT volume from the acquired 2D image data;
to generate a 3D volume from the 3D image data;
to correlate locations within the DBT volume to locations within the 3D image volume;
to generate a navigation map providing information for each pixel in the synthetic 2D image corresponding to a plane in the DBT volume and the 3D image volume; and
to select and present a section within the 3D volume corresponding to the navigat

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Bernard Sylvain
• Davis Cynthia

Classifications

• G06T12/00

  Tomographic reconstruction from projections · CPC title

• A61B6/025 Primary

  Tomosynthesis · CPC title

• A61B6/5235

  combining images from the same or different ionising radiation imaging techniques, e.g. PET and CT · CPC title

• A61B6/502

  for diagnosis of breast, i.e. mammography · CPC title

• G06T15/08

  Volume rendering · CPC title