Method for dual energy and/or contrast enhanced breast imaging for screening, diagnosis and biopsy
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for x-ray imaging a patient's breast in combinations of dual-energy, single-energy, mammography and tomosynthesis modes that facilitate screening for and diagnosis of breast abnormalities, particularly breast abnormalities characterized by abnormal vascularity.
1. A method of multi-mode x-ray examination of a patient's breast comprising:
compressing the patient's breast, using a single compression, substantially between an x-ray source and an imaging x-ray detector;
acquiring, during the single compression of the patient's breast, a plurality of tomosynthesis projection images and a plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images, wherein:
a first subset of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images is acquired using a different x-ray energy than a second subset of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images and the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images; and
a first subset of the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images is acquired using a different x-ray energy than a second subset of the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images;
computer-processing the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images to obtain a plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images;
computer-processing the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images to obtain a combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image; and
displaying at least one of: one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images or the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the displaying comprises concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image comprises concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image side by side.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image comprises concurrently displaying more than one of the plurality of the dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the displaying comprises concurrently displaying the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image and a subset of the plurality of the dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images, wherein the subset of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images comprises slice images in which abnormalities appear and the subset of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images is automatically selected in response to an identification of the abnormality in the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the acquiring step comprises acquiring, first, the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images, and then acquiring, second, the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the acquiring step comprises acquiring one half of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images in the first subset of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images and acquiring the other half of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images in the second subset of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the x-ray source, and the imaging x-ray detector are in an upright system.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising acquiring one of the subsets of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images at an x-ray energy level between 30-40 kVp.
10. A system multi-mode x-ray examination of a patient's breast, the system comprising:
an x-ray source capable of selectively moving relative to a patient's breast;
an imaging x-ray detector;
a compression mechanism disposed between the x-ray source and the imaging x-ray detector;
a control module programmed with a set of instructions that when executed cause the system to perform a set of operations, comprising:
compressing the patient's breast, using a single compression, substantially between an x-ray source and an imaging x-ray detector;
acquiring, during the single compression of the patient's breast, a plurality of tomosynthesis projection images and a plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images wherein:
a first subset of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images is acquired using a different x-ray energy than a second subset of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images and the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images; and
a first subset of the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images is acquired using a different x-ray energy than a second subset of the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images;
computer-processing the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images to obtain a plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images;
computer-processing the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images to obtain a combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image; and
displaying at least one of: one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images or the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the displaying further comprises concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image further comprises concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image side by side.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the concurrently displaying the one or more of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image further comprises concurrently displaying more than one of the plurality of the dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images and the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the displaying comprises concurrently displaying the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image and a subset of the plurality of the dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images, wherein the subset of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images comprises slice images in which abnormalities appear and the subset of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis slice images is automatically selected in response to an identification of the abnormality in the combined dual-energy 2D mammogram image.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the acquiring operation comprises acquiring, first, the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images, and then acquiring, second, the plurality of 2D x-ray mammogram projection images.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the acquiring operation comprises acquiring one half of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images in the first subset of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis and acquiring the other half of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images in the second subset of the plurality of dual-energy reconstructed tomosynthesis.
17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system is an upright system.
18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise acquiring one of the subsets of the plurality of tomosynthesis projection images at an x-ray energy level between 30-40 kVp.