Automated breast ultrasound equipment and methods using enhanced navigator aids
US10251621B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 26, 2014 |
| Grant date | Apr 9, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 26, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B8/54
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and system acquiring, processing and displaying breast ultrasound images in a way that makes breast ultrasound screening more practical and thus more widely used, and reduces the occurrence of missing cancers in screening and diagnosis, using automated scanning of chestwardly compressed breasts with ultrasound. Enhanced, whole-breast navigator overview images are produced from scanning breasts with ultrasound that emphasize abnormalities in the breast while excluding obscuring influences of non-breast structures, particularly those external to the breast such as ribs and chest wall, and differentiating between likely malignant and likely benign abnormalities and otherwise enhancing the navigator overview image and other images, thereby reducing the time to read, screen, and/or diagnose to practical time limits and also reduce screening or diagnostic errors.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.