Patent ID: 8184882
Filing Date: 2012-05-22
Classification: A61B,G06K,G06Q,G16H

Abstract:
1. A method for breast cancer screening, comprising: prior to an x-ray screening mammography visit to a medical clinic by a patient, accessing previously recorded information corresponding to that patient; comparing using a computer said previously recorded information to preselected qualifying criteria for determining whether the patient should receive adjunctive breast ultrasound screening during the x-ray screening mammography visit, wherein said previously recorded information includes a breast density metric previously determined for the patient, and wherein said determining is based at least in part on said breast density metric in that increasingly higher indications for adjunctive breast ultrasound screening are associated with increasingly dense-breasted patients; scheduling the patient for both an a x-ray mammogram acquisition and an adjunctive breast ultrasound acquisition during said x-ray screening mammography visit if it is determined at said comparing step that the patient should receive adjunctive breast ultrasound screening; scheduling the patient for an a x-ray mammogram acquisition alone without an adjunctive breast ultrasound acquisition during said x-ray screening mammography visit if it is not determined at said comparing step that the patient should receive adjunctive breast ultrasound screening; during said x-ray screening mammography visit, obtaining at least one x-ray mammogram of the patient's breasts; during said x-ray screening mammography visit, acquiring volumetric ultrasound scans of at least one of patient's breasts prior to releasing the patient from the x-ray screening mammography visit if the patient is scheduled for the adjunctive breast ultrasound acquisition, said acquiring volumetric ultrasound scans comprising compressing the breast along a compression plane and scanning the breast using a compression and scanning assembly of an automated breast ultrasound scanning device: and computer implemented generating for each breast a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasound images from said volumetric ultrasound scans, each ultrasound image representing a sonographic property of a corresponding slice of the breast substantially parallel to said compression plane; and for each breast, viewing on a computer display at least one diagnostic-quality image derived from said at least one x-ray mammogram in conjunction with one or more of said two-dimensional ultrasound images for detecting suspicious lesions therein.