Upright x-ray breast imaging with a ct mode, multiple tomosynthesis modes, and a mammography mode

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017325767-A9
Application number	US-201615144425-A
Country	US
Kind code	A9
Filing date	May 2, 2016
Priority date	Oct 5, 2010
Publication date	Nov 16, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A multi-mode system and method for imaging a patient's breast with x-rays in one or more of a CT mode, a narrow-angle tomosynthesis mode, a wide angle tomosynthesis mode, and a mammography mode, using essentially the same equipment, on one or more compressions or immobilizations of the breast.

First claim

1 - 40 . (canceled)

41 . A system for imaging a breast of an upright patient with x-rays comprising:
a breast compression unit configured to at least partially compress a breast of an upright patient between a pair of compression surfaces; an x-ray data acquisition unit configured to operate the system in:
a computerized tomography (CT) mode to thereby generate a plurality of CT x-ray projection images CTp of the breast taken at different angles to the breast; and
a tomosynthesis mode T to thereby generate a plurality of tomosynthesis x-ray projection images Tp of the breast taken at different angles to the breast; and
an image processing unit configured to computer-process the images CTp to thereby generate a reconstructed image CTr and to computer process the images Tp to thereby generate tomosynthesis reconstructed breast slice images Tr of at least a portion of the breast.

42 . The system of claim 41 , further including a patient shield secured to the system and forming a barrier between the upright patient and moving elements of the system when operating in the CT mode.

43 . The system of claim 42 , in which the patient shield is configured to tilt to an inclined position in which the upright patient can lean forward against the shield.

44 . The system of claim 42 , in which the shield includes handles for the patient to hold to facilitate comfort and stability while the patient's breast is being imaged.

45 . The system of claim 41 , in which the x-ray data acquisition comprises an x-ray source that is configured to rotate around the breast over a first angle for generating the projection images Tp and through a second angle that is greater than the first angle for generating the projection images CTp.

46 . The system of claim 45 , in which the second angle is at least 180 degrees.

47 . The system of claim 41 , in which the x-ray data acquisition unit is further configured to vary hardness of x-rays impinging on the breast with change in the angle at which the projection images CTp are taken.

48 . The system of claim 41 , in which the x-ray data acquisition unit is further configured to selectively operate the system in a mammography mode M to thereby generate one or more projection mammograms Mp, wherein each image Mp is taken at a higher patient x-ray dose than a single one of the images Tp.

49 . The system of claim 41 , further comprising a display unit configured to concurrently display at least one of the images CTr and at least one of the images Tp and Tr in co-registration such that the selection of an anatomical feature in one of the concurrently displayed images automatically identifies a matching anatomical feature in at least another one of the concurrently displayed images.

50 . The system of claim 41 , in which the x-ray data acquisition system comprises an x-ray source and an x-ray imaging receptor moving in a direction generally along a length of the breast from a position for one of said modes to a position for another of said modes.

51 . The system of claim 41 , in which the x-ray data acquisition unit is further configured to operate in said mode T by responding to an input to select between (i) a narrow angle mode Tn in which the projection images Tp are taken at angles over a relatively narrow angle Tn to thereby form a set of images Tpn of the breast, and (ii) a wide angle mode Tw in which the projection images Tp are taken over an angle Tw that is wider than Tn to thereby form a set of images Tpw of the breast

52 . A system for imaging a breast of an upright patient with x-rays comprising:
a breast compression unit configured to at least partially compress a breast of an upright patient; an x-ray data acquisition unit comprising an x-ray source emitting an imaging x-ray beam toward an x-ray imaging receptor and configured to operate the system in a computerized tomography (CT) mode to take CT x-ray projection images CTp of the upright patient's breast taken at different angles of the imaging x-ray beam to the breast; a support for the x-ray tube and the x-ray receptor configured to tilt to a position in which the imaging x-ray beam is tilted away from the vertical, causing the patient to lean into the data acquisition unit for imaging the patient's breast while remaining generally upright.

53 . The system of claim 52 , in which said x-ray data acquisition unit is further configured to operate in a tomosynthesis mode T to take tomosynthesis x-ray projection images Tp of the breast taken at different angles of said imaging x-ray beam to the breast.

54 . The system of claim 52 , further comprising a reconstruction unit configured to reconstruct images CTr of the breast from the CTp images and images Tr from the images Tp, and a display unit configured to concurrently display at least one of the images CTr and at least one of the images Tp and Tr in co-registration such that the selection of an anatomical feature in one of the concurrently displayed images automatically identifies a matching anatomical feature in at least another one of the concurrently displayed images.

55 . The system of claim 52 , further including a patient shield secured to the system and forming a barrier between the upright patient and moving elements of the system when operating in the CT mode.

56 . The system of claim 55 , in which the shield includes handles for the patient to hold to facilitate comfort and stability while the patient's breast is being imaged.

57 . The system of claim 52 , in which the x-ray data acquisition system further comprises handles for the patient to hold to facilitate comfort and stability while the patient's breast is being imaged.

58 . The system of claim 52 , in which the x-ray data acquisition system is configured to vary hardness of the imaging x-ray beam with the angle at which the projection images CTp are taken.

59 . A method of imaging a breast of an upright patient with an x-rays system comprising:
at least partially compressing the breast into a non-circular cross-section; responding to a selection signal to image the breast with x-rays either in either one or in both of the following modes:
(a) a computerized tomography (CT) mode generating a plurality of two-dimensional projection x-ray images CTp of the breast taken at respective CT angles of an imaging x-ray beam to the breast; and
(b) a tomosynthesis mode T generating a plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis projection x-ray images Tp of the breast taken at respective tomosynthesis angles of the imaging x-ray beam to the breast;
reconstructing images CTr of the breast from said images CTp and slice tomosynthesis images Tr of the breast from said images Tp; and displaying selected combinations of two or more of said CTr, Tp, and Tr images for concurrent viewing in co-registration.

60 . The method of claim 59 , further comprising tilting the imaging x-ray beam to a tilted position in which the upright patient leans away from a vertical position

Assignees

• Hologic Inc

Inventors

• Smith Andrew P
• Stein Jay A
• Defreitas Ken
• Shaw Ian
• Jing Zhenxue
• Niklason Loren
• Ren Baorui
• Ruth Christopher

Classifications

• A61B6/4441

  the rigid structure being a C-arm or U-arm · CPC title

• A61B6/04 Primary

  Positioning of patients; Tiltable beds or the like · CPC title

• A61B6/025

  Tomosynthesis · CPC title

• A61B6/032

  Transmission computed tomography [CT] · CPC title

• A61B6/4447

  Tiltable gantries · CPC title