Out of plane artifact reduction in digital breast tomosynthesis and CT

US9449403B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Siemens Aktiengesellschaft · DE

Inventor

• Anna Jerebko · Eschborn, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 19, 2011
• Grant date: Sep 20, 2016
• Expiry date: May 5, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06T2211/436
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Reduction of artifacts in digital breast tomosynthesis and in computed tomography. Because of the limited angular range acquisition in DBT the reconstructed slices have reduced resolution in z-direction and are affected by artifacts. Out-of-plane blur caused by dense tissue and large masses complicates 3D visualization and reconstruction of thick slices volumes. The streak-like out-of-plane artifacts caused by calcifications and metal clips distort the true shape of calcification, an important malignancy predictor. Microcalcifications could be obscured by bright artifacts. The technique involves reconstructing a set of super resolution slices and predicting the “artifact-free” voxel intensity based on the corresponding set of projection pixels using a statistical model learned from a set of training data. The resulting reconstructed images are de-blurred and streak artifacts are reduced, visibility of clinical features, contrast and sharpness are improved, 3D visualization and thick-slice reconstruction is possible without the loss of contrast and sharpness.