Patent ID: 6909792
Filing Date: 2005-06-21
Classification: A61B,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method of visually documenting historical changes in biological tissue, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a first image of a region of tissue; (b) obtaining pathological feature data for said region of tissue; (c) obtaining a second image of said region of tissue using a first level of resolution; (d) digitally storing said first and second images as digitized first and second images; (e) spatially adjusting at least one of said first and second digitized images to spatially register said images so that corresponding features in both images are mapped to corresponding positions, said spatially adjusting comprising: (f) correlating said pathological feature data with said second image to define a historical region-of-interest (ROI) in said second image; (g) rescanning the defined ROI using a second level of resolution higher than said first level of resolution to obtain a third image; (h) spatially adjusting at least one of said historical and rescanned ROI images to spatially register said ROI images so that corresponding features in both images are mapped to corresponding positions; and (i) creating from said historical and rescanned ROI images a composite image which visually emphasizes temporal differences between said ROI images, thereby visually emphasizing historical changes between said historical and rescanned ROI images.