System and method for hierarchical analysis of contrast enhanced medical imaging information

1. A method of processing contrast enhanced medical imaging information, the medical imaging information corresponding to a time dependent imaging signal behavior associated with at least one tissue volume, the method comprising:

detecting an initial increase in the imaging signal intensity following the administration of an imaging contrast agent;

subsequent to the initial increase in the imaging signal intensity, automatically determining whether a portion of a tissue volume exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior;

if a portion of the tissue volume exhibits the imaging signal washout behavior, analyzing the portion of the tissue volume to determine a section of the portion of the tissue volume exhibiting the greatest degree of washout behavior and identifying the portion of the tissue volume exhibiting the greatest degree of washout behavior as a likely malignancy;

only in the event that the portion of a tissue volume fails to exhibit the imaging signal washout behavior, automatically determining whether the portion of a tissue volume exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior;

if a portion of the tissue volume exhibits the imaging signal plateau behavior, analyzing the portion of the tissue volume to determine a section of the portion of the tissue volume exhibiting the greatest degree of plateau behavior;

only in the event that the portion of the tissue volume fails to exhibit the imaging signal washout behavior and fails to exhibit the imaging signal plateau behavior, automatically determining whether the portion of the tissue volume exhibits an imaging signal persistent enhancement behavior;

if a portion of the tissue volume exhibits the imaging signal persistent enhancement behavior, analyzing the portion of the tissue volume to determine a section of the portion of the tissue volume exhibiting the greatest degree of washout behavior; and

identifying at least one likely malignancy within the portion of the tissue volume.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying comprises generating a visual indication of a type of time dependent imaging signal behavior corresponding to the portion of a tissue volume.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical imaging information comprises Magnetic Resonance Imaging data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical imaging information corresponds to a breast.

5. A method of processing contrast enhanced medical imaging information following the administration of an imaging contrast agent, the medical imaging information comprising imaging signal intensity values associated with at least one candidate voxel set corresponding to a tissue volume, the method comprising:

detecting an initial increase in the imaging signal intensity values;

at a time following the initial increase, determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior;

only in the event that the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit an imaging signal washout behavior, determining whether the candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior;

only in the event that the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit an imaging signal washout behavior or an imaging signal plateau behavior, determining whether the candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal persistent enhancement behavior; and

identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy on the basis of imaging signal behavior.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises identifying a highest percent enhancement value corresponding to a candidate voxel set.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises identifying a most significant imaging signal intensity decline corresponding to a candidate voxel set.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises identifying a most significant rate of imaging signal intensity decline corresponding to a candidate voxel set.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises generating at least one from the group of a numerical, a textual, a chromatic, and a graphic indication of the likely malignancy.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises generating upon a display device an indication of the likely malignancy.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises visually indicating a type of curve representing a time dependent imaging signal behavior that corresponds to the candidate voxel set.

12. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises displaying one from the group of a washout curve, a plateau curve, and a persistent enhancement curve.

13. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises identifying a flattest imaging signal intensity relative to a time period.

14. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprises identifying a most strongly enhancing imaging signal intensity relative to a time period.

15. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal persistent enhancement behavior is performed in the event that a candidate voxel set fails to exhibit an imaging signal washout behavior and a candidate voxel set fails to exhibit an imaging signal plateau behavior.

16. The method of claim 5 , wherein the medical imaging information comprises Magnetic Resonance Imaging data.

17. The method of claim 5 , wherein the medical imaging information corresponds to a breast.

18. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior comprises determining whether a signal enhancement ratio corresponding to a candidate voxel set exceeds a washout threshold value.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the washout threshold value is approximately equal to 1.1.

20. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior comprises determining whether a slope corresponding to a candidate voxel set is less than a washout slope value.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the washout slope value is approximately equal to −2.0 percentage units per minute.

22. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior comprises determining whether an angle corresponding to a candidate voxel set is less than a washout angle value.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the washout angle value is approximately equal to −5 degrees.

24. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior comprises determining whether a signal enhancement ratio corresponding to a candidate voxel set is less than a first threshold value and greater than a second threshold value.

25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the first threshold value is approximately equal to 1.1, and the second threshold value is approximately equal to 0.9.

26. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior comprises determining whether a slope corresponding to a candidate voxel set is less than a first slope value and greater than a second slope value.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the first slope value is approximately equal to 2 percentage units per minute and the second slope value is approximately equal to −2 percentage units per minute.

28. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior comprises determining whether a slope corresponding to a candidate voxel set is less than a first angle value and greater than a second angle value.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the first angle value is approximately equal to 5 degrees and the second angle value is approximately equal to −5 degrees.

30. A method of processing contrast enhanced medical imaging information following the administration of an imaging contrast agent, the medical imaging information comprising imaging signal intensity values associated with at least one candidate voxel set corresponding to a tissue volume, the method comprising:

detecting an initial increase in the imaging signal intensity value in a candidate voxel set;

after the initial increase, performing a sequential analysis to determine whether the candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior, an imaging signal plateau behavior, or an imaging signal persistent enhancement behavior wherein the analysis to determine imaging signal plateau behavior is performed only if the candidate voxel set does not exhibit any imaging signal washout behavior, and the analysis to determine imaging signal persistent enhancement behavior is performed only if the candidate voxel set does not exhibit any imaging signal washout behavior or any imaging signal plateau behavior; and

identifying the candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy on the basis of the analysis.

31. A method of processing contrast enhanced medical imaging information, the medical imaging information comprising imaging signal intensity values associated with at least one candidate voxel set corresponding to a tissue volume, the method comprising:

detecting an initial increase in the imaging intensity values in the candidate voxel set;

after detecting the initial increase, determining whether the candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior;

identifying the candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy corresponding to a washout behavior in the event that the candidate voxel set exhibits the imaging signal washout behavior;

determining whether the candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior in the event that the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit the imaging signal washout behavior; and

identifying the candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy corresponding to a plateau behavior in the event that the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit the imaging signal washout behavior and exhibits the imaging signal plateau behavior.

32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising identifying the candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy corresponding to a persistent enhancement behavior in the event that the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit the imaging signal washout behavior and the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit the imaging signal plateau behavior.

33. A computer readable medium containing program instructions to cause a computer to:

after an initial increase in imaging signal intensity, determine whether a candidate voxel set that forms a portion of a medical imaging data set corresponding to a tissue volume exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior;

determine whether the candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior only in the event that the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit imaging signal washout behavior;

determine whether the candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal persistent enhancement behavior only in the event that the candidate voxel set fails to exhibit either imaging signal washout behavior or imaging signal plateau behavior; and

identify a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33 , wherein the program instructions for determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal washout behavior comprise program instructions for performing at least one from the group of a signal enhancement ratio analysis, an imaging signal intensity change analysis, and an imaging signal rate of intensity change analysis.

35. The system of claim 33 , wherein the program instructions for determining whether a candidate voxel set exhibits an imaging signal plateau behavior comprise program instructions for performing at least one from the group of a signal enhancement ratio analysis, an imaging signal intensity change analysis, and an imaging signal rate of intensity change analysis.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 33 , wherein the program instructions for identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprise program instructions for performing at least one from the group of a percent enhancement value analysis, an imaging signal intensity change analysis, and an imaging signal rate of intensity change analysis.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 33 , wherein the program instructions for identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprise program instructions for generating at least one from the group of a numerical, a textual, a chromatic, and a graphic indication of the likely malignancy.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 33 , wherein the program instructions for identifying a candidate voxel set as a likely malignancy comprise program instructions for displaying a curve corresponding to the candidate voxel set.