System and method for medical diagnosis and tracking using three-dimensional subtraction in a picture archiving communication system

1. A system for medical diagnosis and tracking, comprising:

at least one medical imaging device adapted to create at least one current image from a current examination;

a historical images archive adapted to storing at least one of:

said at least one current image, and

at least one historical image from a previous examination;

a rules engine adapted to apply at least one rule to select at least one historical image for three-dimensional subtraction with said at least one current image;

a three-dimensional subtraction application adapted to create at least one three-dimensional subtracted image by performing three-dimensional subtraction on said at least one current image and said at least one historical image, wherein said at least one current image and said at least one historical image do not contain contrast; and

a Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) workstation adapted to display said at least one three-dimensional subtracted image.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one rule is at least one of:

a predefined rule, and

a rule created dynamically by a user of said system for medical diagnosis and tracking.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one rule is defined by at least one of:

software,

a user, and

a system administrator.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said system is used for tumor diagnosis and tracking.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said historical images archive, said rules engine, and said three-dimensional subtraction application are integrated on the Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) workstation.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein said three-dimensional subtraction application uses image registration techniques to align said at least one current image and said at least one historical image before creating said at least one three-dimensional subtracted image.

7. A method for medical diagnosis and tracking, the method comprising:

at least one processing device for performing at least:

receiving at least one current medical image from a current examination;

applying at least one rule for selecting at least one historical image from a previous examination for three-dimensional subtraction with said at least one current image from said current examination;

generating at least one current three-dimensional volume image using said at least one current medical image;

generating at least one historical three-dimensional volume image using said at least one historical image;

registering said at least one current three-dimensional volume image and said at least one historical three-dimensional volume image using image registration techniques;

constructing at least one three-dimensional subtracted image from said registered at least one current three-dimensional volume image and said at least one historical three-dimensional volume image, wherein said at least one current three-dimensional volume image and said at least one historical three-dimensional volume image do not contain contrast; and

displaying said at least one three-dimensional subtracted image on a Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) workstation.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said at least one rule is at least one of:

a predefined rule, and

a rule created dynamically by a user of said system for medical diagnosis and tracking.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein said at least one rule is defined by at least one of:

software,

a user, and

a system administrator.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein said medical imaging device uses at least one of:

an X-ray imaging technique,

a Computer Tomography (CT) imaging technique,

a Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique,

a nuclear medicine imaging technique, and

an ultrasound imaging technique.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein said at least one current image and said at least on historical image are at least one two-dimensional image slice.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein said at least one image registration technique includes at least one of:

at least one extrinsic method,

at least one intrinsic method, and

at least one non-image based method.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said at least one intrinsic method includes at least one of:

at least one landmark based registration method,

at least one segmentation based registration method, and

at least one voxel based property registration method.

14. The method of claim 7 , wherein said method is used for tumor diagnosis and tracking.

15. The method of claim 7 , wherein at least one of:

said generating step, and

said constructing step,

is automatic.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including a set of instructions for a computer, the set of instructions comprising:

a receiving routine for receiving at least one current image from a medical imaging device, wherein the at least one current image is from a current examination;

a selection routine for applying at least one rule for selecting at least one historical image from a previous examination for three-dimensional subtraction with said at least one current image from said current examination;

a generation routine for generating at least one current three-dimensional volume image using said at least one current image and generating at least one historical three-dimensional volume image using said at least one historical image;

a registration routine for registering said at least one current three-dimensional volume image and said at least one historical three-dimensional volume image using image registration techniques;

a construction routine for constructing at least one three-dimensional subtracted image from said registered at least one current three-dimensional volume image and said at least one historical three-dimensional volume image, wherein said at least one current three-dimensional volume image and said at least one historical three-dimensional volume image do not contain contrast; and

a display routine for displaying said at least one three-dimensional subtracted image on a Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) workstation.