Patent · US Active

Method and system for defining a breast window

US8649578B2 · kind B2 · utility

5Cited by
3References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMar 8, 2010
Grant dateFeb 11, 2014
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 7, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2207/30068
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A computer implemented method for defining a breast window within an image for a breast, said image containing a breast image having a breast boundary, the method comprising: identifying a center region of the breast image, where the center region is coincident with an edge of the image; defining the edge of the image as the first border of the breast window; searching from the center region along the edge of the image for the breast boundary, the breast boundary informing a second border of the breast window; searching from the center region along the edge of the image in an opposite direction for the breast boundary, the breast boundary informing a third border of the breast window; and repeatedly searching from the center region in a direction orthogonal to the edge of the image for a point on the breast boundary most distant from the edge of the image, the point on the breast boundary informing a fourth border of the breast window. In some embodiments, the image may be rotated/flipped and/or subsampled and/or thresholded to form a binary image before a breast window is searched. A method of thresholding the image is also disclosed.

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