Patent Document ID: 20100246913
Application ID: 12415972
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for computer-aided detection (CAD) of anatomical abnormalities in a breast volume based on a plurality of two-dimensional x-ray tomosynthesis projection images thereof acquired at a respective plurality of x-ray tomosynthesis projection angles, comprising: for each of the plurality of projection images, processing that projection image separately from the other projection images according to at least one predetermined feature extraction algorithm to generate at least one projection feature array corresponding thereto; for each of the at least one predetermined features extracted, backprojecting the plurality of corresponding projection feature arrays according to a predetermined tomosynthesis reconstruction algorithm to form a plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis reconstructed feature arrays, the imaged breast volume having a three-dimensional geometry characterized by a number of levels and a number of pixels per level, wherein said plurality of two-dimensional tomosynthesis reconstructed feature arrays collectively occupy said three-dimensional geometry; individually classifying each pixel in each level of said three-dimensional geometry as being one of (i) a pixel of interest and (ii) not a pixel of interest based upon the at least one tomosynthesis reconstructed feature array value corresponding to that pixel location; and generating CAD detections for the breast volume based on the identified pixels of interest.