Cornell Research Foundation Inc.

Antoni Chan

David F Yankelevitz

Anthony P Reeves

Claudia Ingrid Henschke

Claudia Henshke

The present invention is a multi-stage detection algorithm using a successive nodule candidate refinement approach. The detection algorithm involves four major steps. First, a lung region is segmented from a whole lung CT scan. This is followed by a hypothesis generation stage in which nodule candidate locations are identified from the lung region. In the third stage, nodule candidate sub-images or the lung region of the CT scan pass through a streaking artifact removal process. The nodule candidates are then successively refined using a sequence of filters of increasing complexity. A first filter uses attachment area information to remove vessels and large vessel bifurcation points from the nodule candidate list. A second filter removes small bifurcation points.

Method and apparatus for small pulmonary nodule computer aided diagnosis from computed tomography scans

The present invention is a multi-stage detection algorithm using a successive nodule candidate refinement approach. The detection algorithm involves four major steps. First, the lung region is segmented from a whole lung CT scan. This is followed by a hypothesis generation stage in which nodule candidate locations are identified from the lung region. In the third stage, nodule candidate sub-images pass through a streaking artifact removal process. The nodule candidates are then successively refined using a sequence of filters of increasing complexity. A first filter uses attachment area information to remove vessels and large vessel bifurcation points from the nodule candidate list. A second filter removes small bifurcation points. The invention also improves the consistency of nodule segmentations. This invention uses rigid-body registration, histogram-matching, and a rule-based adjustment system to remove missegmented voxels between two segmentations of the same nodule at different times.

System, method and apparatus for small pulmonary nodule computer aided diagnosis from computed tomography scans

The present invention is directed to diagnostic imaging of small pulmonary nodules. There are two main stages in the evaluation of pulmonary nodules from Computed Tomography (CT) scans: detection, in which the locations of possible nodules are identified, and characterization, in which a nodule is represented by measured features that may be used to evaluate the probability that the nodule is cancer. Currently, the most useful prediction feature is growth rate, which requires the comparison of size estimates from two CT scans recorded at different times. The present invention includes methods for detection and feature extraction for size characterization. The invention focuses the analysis of small pulmonary nodules that are less than 1 centimeter in size, but is also suitable for larger nodules as well.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

Antoni Chan