Breast measurement apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9427213-B2
Application number	US-201113880569-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 18, 2011
Priority date	Oct 22, 2010
Publication date	Aug 30, 2016
Grant date	Aug 30, 2016

Abstract

A breast measurement apparatus comprises a receptacle for surrounding a breast; a plurality of optical fibers for irradiating the breast with examination light and detecting transmitted scattered light from the breast; an inner image generation unit for generating an optical CT image concerning the breast according to a detection signal of the transmitted scattered light; an ultrasonic probe, arranged so as to face the inside of the receptacle, for scanning the breast with an ultrasonic wave and receiving a reflected wave from the breast; an image generation unit for generating an ultrasonic image concerning the breast according to the reflected wave; and a mechanism for injecting and discharging a liquid interface agent into and from the inside of the receptacle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A breast measurement apparatus for acquiring an inner image of a breast of a subject, the apparatus comprising:
a receptacle for surrounding the breast;
a plurality of optical fibers, arranged so as to face the inside of the receptacle, for irradiating the breast with examination light and detecting transmitted scattered light from the breast;
a first inner image generation unit for generating a first inner image concerning the breast according to a detection signal of the transmitted scattered light;
a probe, arranged so as to face the inside of the receptacle, for scanning the breast with an ultrasonic wave and receiving a reflected wave from the breast;
a second inner image generation unit for generating a second inner image concerning the breast according to the reflected wave; and
a mechanism for injecting and discharging a liquid interface agent into and from the inside of the receptacle.

2. A breast measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the receptacle includes a material transmitting the ultrasonic wave therethrough and satisfying a boundary condition of a light propagation model for the examination light.

3. A breast measurement apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the receptacle includes a resin.

4. A breast measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a mechanism for making a distance variable between the probe and the breast.

5. A breast measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a mechanism for rotating the probe about an axis passing through the breast.

6. A breast measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a deaerator for deaerating the interface agent.

7. A breast measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the second inner image generation unit is configured to extract a contour of the breast from the second inner image, and
the first inner image generation unit is configured to construct the first image using the contour as forecast information.

8. A breast measurement apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an image combination unit for combining the second inner image with the first inner image.

Assignees

• Suzuki Toshihiko
• Yamashita Yutaka
• Ueda Yukio
• Yamaki Etsuko
• Yamashita Daisuke
• Yoshimoto Kenji
• Sakahara Harumi
• Ogura Hiroyuki
• Nasu Hatsuko
• Hamamatsu Photonics Kk

Inventors

• Suzuki Toshihiko
• Yamashita Yutaka
• Ueda Yukio
• Yamaki Etsuko
• Yamashita Daisuke
• Yoshimoto Kenji
• Sakahara Harumi
• Ogura Hiroyuki
• Nasu Hatsuko

Classifications

• A61B5/7425

  Displaying combinations of multiple images regardless of image source, e.g. displaying a reference anatomical image with a live image · CPC title

• A61B8/4444

  related to the probe · CPC title

• A61B8/4477

  using several separate ultrasound transducers or probes · CPC title

• A61B8/5207

  involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image · CPC title

• A61B5/6835

  Supports or holders, e.g., articulated arms · CPC title