Patent Document ID: 7756317
Application ID: 11412286
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for detecting and analyzing candidate lesions in a plurality of digital magnetic resonance images of a breast, the plurality of digital magnetic resonance images including both a pre-contrast image and a post-contrast plurality of temporal images, the method comprising using a computer to perform steps of: accessing the pre-contrast image and the post-contrast a plurality of temporal images; identifying candidate lesions by performing a pixel by pixel temporal pattern analysis of the pre-contrast image and the post-contrast plurality of temporal images to produce temporal patterns based on a plurality of categories of an uptake rate of a contrast agent in an uptake phase and a plurality of categories of washout rate of the contrast agent in a washout phase; the identifying step includes steps of: calculating a relative enhancement for each post-contrast temporal image, applying an uptake threshold to each relative enhancement to identify suspect regions determining the candidate lesions from the suspect regions determining a curve type for each candidate lesion using the relative enhancement in the uptake phase and an enhancement ratio in the washout phase, wherein the curve type are predefined combinations of an uptake rate and the plurality of categories of washout rate; and classifying the candidate lesions based on temporal patterns to produce classified candidate lesions.