Upright X-ray breast imaging with a CT mode, multiple tomosynthesis modes, and a mammography mode

1. A system for imaging a breast of an upright patient with x-rays comprising:

a breast compression unit configured to compress a breast of an upright patient to different degrees at different angles relative to the breast;

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; and

an image processing unit configured to computer-process the images CTp to thereby generate a three-dimensional reconstructed image CTr of at least a portion of the breast.

2. The system of claim 1 in which:

the data acquisition unit is further configured to operate the system in a tomosynthesis mode T to thereby generate tomosynthesis projection images Tp of the breast taken at different angles;

the image processing unit is further configured to computer-process the images Tp to thereby generate reconstructed images Tr representing slices of the breast having selected thicknesses and orientations; and

the data acquisition unit is further configured to select at least one of the CT and T modes of operation to examine the breast.

3. The system of claim 2 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;

the image processing unit is further configured to computer-process at least one of the sets of images Tpn and Tpw to thereby generate reconstructed images Tr; and

the data acquisition unit is further configured to select at least one of the CT, Tn and Tw modes of operation to examine the breast.

4. The system of claim 3 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, each at a higher patient x-ray dose than a single one of the images Tp; and

the data acquisition unit is further configured to select at least one of the CT, Tn, Tw and M modes of operation to examine the breast.

5. The system of claim 2 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, each at a higher patient x-ray dose than a single one of the images Tp; and

the data acquisition unit is further configured to select at least one of the CT, T, and M modes of operation to examine the breast.

6. The system of claim 2 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.

7. The system of claim 1 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.

8. The system of claim 1 in which the breast compression unit comprises an upper plate and a lower plate facing each other and having facing portions that are concave where engaging the breast.

9. The system of claim 1 in which the 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.

10. A method of imaging a breast of an upright patient with ate x-rays system comprising:

compressing the breast;

imaging the breast with x-rays in any subcombination of the following modes, selected by input to the system:

(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 to the breast;

(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 to the breast;

(c) a mararnography mode M generating one or more two-dimensional projection images Mp of the breast, each using a patient dose approximating that for a conventional mammogram; and

reconstructing three-dimensional images CTr of the breast from said images CTp and slice tomosynthesis images Tr of the breast from said images Tp for respective three-dimensional slices of the imaged breast, said slices having respective thicknesses and orientations; and

displaying selected combinations of two or more of said CTr, Tp, Tr, and Mp images for concurrent viewing in co-registration.

11. The method of claim 10 in which said imaging of the breast in said mode T selectively comprises one or both of the following modes selected by input to the system:

(a) a narrow angle tomosynthesis mode generating a set of a plurality of tomosynthesis projection x-ray images Tpn of the breast taken over a narrow extent of tornosynthsis angles to the breast; and

(b) a wide angle tomosynthesis mode generating a set of plurality of tomosynthesis projection images Tpw of the breast taken at a wider extent of tomosynthesis angles to the breast; and

said reconstructing further comprises selectively reconstructs one or both of the sets of images Tpn and Tpw into tomosynthesis slice images Tr representing respective three-dimensional slices of the imaged breast that have respective selected thicknesses and orientations.

12. The method of claim 9 further including:

selectively moving an x-ray source and an x-ray imaging receptor in a direction generally along a length of the breast from a position for one to a position for another of said modes.

13. The method of claim 9 further including:

varying hardness of x-rays that impinge on the breast in at least one of said modes with change in the angles to the breast.

14. A method of imaging a breast of an upright patient with an x-ray system comprising:

compressing the breast between an upper compression surface and a lower compression surface;

imaging the breast with x-rays in the following modes, selected by an input to the system:

(a) a computerized tomography (CT) mode generating a set of a plurality of two-dimensional projection x-ray images CTp of the breast taken at respective CT angles to the breast; and

(b) a tomosynthesis mode T generating a set of a plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis projection x-ray images Tp of the breast taken at respective tomosynthesis angles to the breast;

computer-processing one or both of the sets of images CTp and Tp to reconstruct one or more three-dimensional (3D) images of the breast; and

forming and displaying display images related to said one or more 3D images of the breast.

15. The method of claim 14 in which the imaging of the breast in said mode T comprises the following modes, selected by input to the system:

(a) a narrow angle tomosynthesis mode Tn generating a plurality of tomosynthesis projection x-ray images Tpn of the breast taken over a narrow extent of the tomosynthesis angles to the breast; and

(b) a wide angle tomosynthesis mode Tw generating a plurality of tomosynthesis projection images Tpw of the breast taken at a wider extent of the tomosynthesis angles to the breast.

16. The method of claim 14 further including:

selectively moving an x-ray source and an x-ray imaging receptor in a direction tranverse to a chest wall of the patient from a position for one to a position for another of the CT and T modes.

17. The method of claim 14 further including:

varying the hardness of x-rays for taking the projection images with at least one of the CT angles and the tomosynthesis angles.

18. The method of claim 14 further including:

selectively imaging the breast with x-rays in a mammography mode M to thereby generate one or more two-dimensional projection mammogram images Mp of the breast.

19. The method of claim 14 in which said computer processing includes generating images of breast slices having selected thicknesses and orientations.

20. The method of claim 14 in which said computer-processing further includes concurrently displaying at least one or more of the three-dimensional images and one or more of the projection images.