Evaluation of an x-ray image of a breast produced during a mammography

1. A method for evaluating an x-ray image of a breast produced during mammography, the method comprising:

automatically producing, by a processor, a masking risk map for a region of the breast depicted in the x-ray image, wherein the producing takes into account a connectivity of dense breast tissue, and wherein the masking risk map comprises masking risk values that quantify a masking risk;

displaying the masking risk map on a screen together with the x-ray image, the masking risk map depicting areas of the dense breast tissue for varying levels of glandularity;

automatically determining, by the processor, the masking risk caused by mammographically dense tissue; and

using the masking risk for one or more of categorizing, describing, or representing a breast density.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein data from a glandularity map is used for producing the masking risk map.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the connectivity of the dense breast tissue is taken into account by applying a morphological opening method.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a structure element used within a scope of the morphological opening method is disk-shaped and radii of structure elements used for ablation and addition differ from one another.

5. An apparatus for evaluating an x-ray image of a breast produced during mammography, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to:

produce a masking risk map for a region of the breast depicted in the x-ray image taking into account a connectivity of dense breast tissue, wherein the masking risk map comprises masking risk values that quantify a masking risk;

display the masking risk map on a screen together with the x-ray image, the masking risk map depicting areas of the dense breast tissue for varying levels of glandularity;

determine the masking risk caused by mammographically dense tissue; and

use the masking risk for one or more of categorizing, describing, or representing a breast density.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stored on a computer for evaluating an x-ray image of a breast produced during mammography, the computer-readable storage medium comprising computer program instructions configured to, when executed on the computer, cause the computer to at least perform:

produce a masking risk map for a region of the breast depicted in the x-ray image taking into account a connectivity of dense breast tissue, wherein the masking risk map comprises masking risk values that quantify a masking risk;

display the masking risk map on a screen together with the x-ray image, the masking risk map depicting areas of the dense breast tissue for varying levels of glandularity;

determine the masking risk caused by mammographically dense tissue; and

use the masking risk for one or more of categorizing, describing, or representing a breast density.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductivity of the dense breast tissue is taken into account by applying a morphological opening method.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a structure element used within a scope of the morphological opening method is disk-shaped and radii of structure elements used for ablation and addition differ from one another.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically producing a masking risk value based on the masking risk map.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

using the masking risk value to assign a breast density category to the region of the breast depicted in the x-ray image.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically producing a description of a position, a distribution, or both the position and the distribution of the mammographically dense tissue based on the masking risk map.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the categorizing, describing, or representing the breast density comprises generating a breast density report.