Patent · US Expired

Method and system to enhance robust identification of abnormal regions in radiographs

US6067372A · kind A · utility

51Cited by
16References
10Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 18, 1998
Grant dateMay 23, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 18, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T7/0012
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for detecting abnormal regions in living tissue depicted in a digital radiograph includes identifying suspected abnormal regions depicted in the radiograph and then, for each identified suspected abnormal region, extracting multiple topographic layers of the region from the digital radiograph; determining features of the region in each of the layers; and applying inter-layer multivariate non-linear criteria to the features to determine whether the suspected abnormal region is to be classified as an abnormal region. The distribution of digital values in the digitized radiograph is modified and a probabalistic determination is made as to whether suspected abnormal regions are actually abnormal from multiple analyses. An image is processed using at least two partially correlated detection schemes to produce at least two corresponding result sets of potentially abnormal regions; and the results of the detection schemes are combined using logical "AND" or logical "OR" combining rules to detect abnormal regions in the radiograph.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.