Patent Document ID: 5579360
Application ID: 08367023
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of producing a computer-enhanced mammogram comprising: irradiating a breast of a patient being examined with X-ray radiation sequentially in a predetermined first viewing direction and in a predetermined different second viewing direction; receiving the X-ray radiation exiting the breast sequentially from said first viewing direction and from said second viewing direction within respective two-dimensional fields; producing digital signals as a function of the X-ray radiation received, which digital signals correspond to a first input two-dimensional array of digital pixels for said first viewing direction and a second input two-dimensional array of digital pixels for said second viewing direction; in response to said signals, storing said first input two-dimensional array and said second input two-dimensional array in a digital memory means accessible to a computer; and with said computer: for each of the first input array and the second input array, detecting a skinline and thereby segmenting the array into breast and background regions, identifying a reference point along the detected skinline corresponding to the location of the nipple, and identifying spots within the breast region which based on their size and shape are suspect; correlating characteristics of spots identified as suspect in the first input array with characteristics of spots identified as suspect in the second input array, said correlating including comparing positions of spots identified as suspect in the first input array relative to the identified reference point in said first input array with the positions of the spots identified as suspect in the second input array relative to the identified reference point in said second input array, and producing an output two-dimensional array of digital pixels from the at least one of the first input array and the second input array in which the spots identified as suspect in at least one of the first input array and the second input array whose characteristics are correlated within predetermined criteria to the spots identified as suspect in the other of the first input array and the second input array are marked or enhanced.