Patent Document ID: 10026170
Application ID: 15213889
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for providing support in classifying a lesion using an optoacoustic image of a volume of tissue, wherein the volume of tissue comprises a tumor having a central nidus, the method comprising: obtaining an ultrasound image of the volume of tissue, the ultrasound image presenting at least part of the central nidus and at least part of a peritumoral region; obtaining an optoacoustic image of the volume of tissue, the optoacoustic image being coregistered with the ultrasound image and presenting the optical contrast of at least a portion of the part of the central nidus and at least a portion of the part of the peritumoral region; identifying on the ultrasound image a tumoral boundary curve, the tumoral boundary curve approximating at least a portion of a perimeter of the central nidus of the tumor; presenting on a display at least a portion of the optoacoustic image with the tumoral boundary curve superimposed thereon; defining an internal zone within the displayed image based on the tumoral boundary curve; and obtaining from an operator an operator feature score for a tumoral feature contained within the internal zone; obtaining from the operator an operator feature score for an extra-tumoral feature contained at least partially outside the internal zone; calculating by computer one or more computer-generated feature scores for the tumoral feature, based at least in part on information falling within the internal zone of the displayed image; calculating by computer one or more computer-generated feature scores for the extra-tumoral feature, based at least in part on information falling outside the internal zone of the displayed image; obtaining one or more supplementary inputs from the operator if either of the operator feature scores differ from the corresponding at least one computer-generated feature scores; and classifying the lesion based on the operator feature scores.