Patent ID: 8331636

Claim:
A method for automatic computer-aided detection of lesions within a digital or digitized medical image, comprising: acquiring a digital or digitized medical image of a patient comprising initial medical image data; automatically segmenting the medical image data and automatically identifying one or more regions of suspicion within the medical image data; and automatically analyzing each identified region of suspicion to determine whether each identified region of suspicion is of a benign state that requires no course of action, is of a suspicious state that requires a biopsy, or is of an indeterminate state that requires subsequent imaging after a particular length of time, wherein upon a determination that a region of suspicion is of an indeterminate state: acquiring a second digital or digitized medical image of the patient comprising secondary medical image data; determining a calibration factor; automatically re-analyzing each identified region of suspicion initially determined to be of an indeterminate state, wherein the re-analyzing determination is made upon consideration of the calibration factor that biases the automatic determination towards either a benign state or a suspicious state; and adjusting the calibration factor based on results of the re-analyzing determination so as to minimize subsequent findings of the indeterminate state.