Patent ID: 8010184

Claim:
A method for evaluating a region of interest, comprising: executing one more stored routines that, when executed, assess one or more malignancy characteristics in a first image data set acquired using a first imaging modality; executing one more stored routines that, when executed, assess one or more malignancy characteristics in a second image data set acquired using a second imaging modality different from the first imaging modality; executing one more stored routines that, when executed, assess one or more malignancy characteristics in a combined image data set generated using the first image data set and the second image data set; and executing one more stored routines that, when executed, evaluate a region of interest identified in one or more of the first image data set, the second image data set, or the combined image data set based on the one or more malignancy characteristics, wherein the automatic evaluation comprises calculating a probability that the region of interest is malignant.