EP2117433A1

EP2117433A1 - Method for producing a stereotactic image in a mammography device

Info

Publication number: EP2117433A1
Application number: EP08804243A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michael Hall; Marc Hansroul; Katrin Johansson; Thomas Mertelmeier; Serge Savard
Original assignee: Siemens AG
Current assignee: Siemens Healthcare GmbH
Priority date: 2007-12-20
Filing date: 2008-09-16
Publication date: 2009-11-18
Also published as: WO2009080379A1; US20100104166A1

Abstract

In a method for producing a stereotactic image (54a) of a patient (8) localized in a mammography device (4) for a biopsy to be carried out on the patient (8), the following steps are carried out by a control and evaluation unit (36): a) Waiting for a start signal (42) to be given by the operator (28), b) after receipt of the start signal (42), automatically carrying out the steps: c1) positioning an X-ray apparatus (16) of the mammography device (4) in a first predeterminable imaging position (26b), c2) capturing a first image (44b) of the patient (8) with the X-ray apparatus (16), c3) pivoting the X-ray apparatus (16) into a second imaging position (26c) that is different from the first, c4) capturing a second image (44c) of the patient (8) with the X-ray apparatus, c5) providing the first (44b) and the second image (44c) as a stereotactic image (54a).

Description

description

A method for generating a stereotactic image in a mammography apparatus

The invention relates to a method for producing a stereotactic image of a patient fixed in a mammography system for a biopsy to be performed on the patient.

Mammography systems are usually used for X-ray examination of a breast of a usually female patient. If a suspicious point in the breast is diagnosed during such an examination, a biopsy is also performed on the patient with the help of the mammography system, in which a biopsy needle is guided to the suspicious point in order to remove a tissue sample there. In order to pinpoint the suspicious spot with the biopsy needle, it is necessary to locate the suspicious spot in the coordinate system of the mammography system.

For image-guided breast biopsy - also known as stereotactic biopsy - two x-ray images or mammograms are usually taken from slightly different directions of view in order to enable the location of the suspicious site to be biopsied. Such two images are also called stereotactic images. The two viewing directions differ here, e.g. by +/- 10 ° to +/- 15 ° with respect to the average diagnostic viewing direction, ie the view direction perpendicular to the body longitudinal axis of the patient through the breast (CC-View). Often several pairs of stereotactic images are taken to take multiple tissue samples.

Today stereotactic images, ie two X-ray images are recorded in the same way as two ordinary mammograms, ie X-rays of the patient. The working In this case, the procedure is as follows: The patient is first positioned in the treatment room by an X-ray specialist there as an operator at the mammography facility in the CC view position, and the chest is compressed or fixed in a corresponding compression device. Thereafter, the operator enters the X-ray control room or an acquisition workstation and triggers the capture of an overview image or scout image in a central viewing direction (CC-View). The operator then moves back into the treatment room or to the mammography system and manually pivots the x-ray head or the x-ray device to a first angle or a first viewing direction, eg -15 ° with respect to the CC view. The operator then returns to the control room or to the workstation and triggers the recording of the first stereotactic image from this first viewing direction. Subsequently, the operator repeats the procedure for the second viewing direction and the second stereotactic image, eg, + 15 ° with respect to the CC view, to complete the sentence of the stereotactic image.

From the two stereotactic images, the spatial position of the suspected point in the coordinate system of the mammography system is then determined and then the biopsy needle is placed at the corresponding point. With the biopsy needle placed, a further pair of stereotactic images are then taken by the operator in accordance with the above procedure to verify that the biopsy needle is actually placed at the suspect site. Subsequently, the tissue sample is removed. Often, a third pair of stereotactic images are then again taken by the operator in accordance with the above procedure to verify that the tissue in the appropriate location has actually been removed.

Each frame of the stereotactic images must therefore be recorded separately for themselves, with a manual operation or pivoting of the x-ray tube, a space change and a manual triggering of the X-ray or X-ray device is necessary. This entire procedure described above is therefore extremely time consuming.

During this entire, at least unpleasant, if not very painful, extremely time-consuming procedure, the patient remains fixed in the biopsy machine's compression device. A movement of the patient with body displacement is very likely, which in turn has negative effects on the tracking accuracy for the biopsy.

The aim of the invention is, finally, the Mammographiebzw. Biopsy procedure by drastically reducing the time taken to complete the procedure. This can be achieved, for example, by streamlining the workflow.

The invention is based on the recognition that this can be achieved from a technical point of view by drastically reducing the recording time for stereotactic images.

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved method for producing stereotactic images of a patient fixed in a mammography system for a biopsy to be performed on the patient.

The invention is achieved by a corresponding method with the following steps performed automatically by a control and evaluation unit: First, the first method step is waited for a start signal to be issued by the operator. The start signal serves to initiate a process at the end of which a stereotactic image is to be present. The actual discontinuation of the signal by the operator thus does not belong to the method according to the invention. In the context of the method according to the invention, after receiving the start signal, the automatic sequential execution of the following steps is initiated: First, the X-ray device is tion of the mammography system automatically positioned in a first predetermined recording position. Predeterminable here means that the corresponding line of sight or beam direction of the X-ray device, ie, as a rule, its pivot angle with respect to the CC view can be predetermined to, for example, + 15 °. As part of the procedure, a first image of the patient is then automatically made with the X-ray device from the first recording position. Subsequently, the automatic pivoting of the X-ray device to one of the first different second predetermined recording position. Subsequently, the recording of a second image of the patient with the X-ray device from the second recording position takes place automatically again. At this point, the automatic procedure is complete and there is a stereotactic image in the form of the first and second images in the mammography facility, which is provided for further use.

Previous mammography systems are equipped with digital x-ray detectors whose cycle time, ie the minimum time between two consecutive x-ray recordings, is between 20 and 60 seconds. Since new X-ray detector generations are available today, which have a cycle time of, for example, less than 10 to 15 seconds, two consecutive X-ray images can therefore take place within this short time. Because the adjustment of the X-ray device and the triggering of the X-ray images take place automatically, the minimum cycle time of the X-ray detectors can actually be utilized in the case of a pivoting of the X-ray device which takes place fast enough. Thus, for example, the pivoting of the X-ray source to the first recording position requires 5 seconds, the first X-ray image with pivoting of the X-ray tube to the second recording position requires only 15 seconds, while the X-ray detector is already ready to record a second X-ray image. Thus, the second X-ray image already 20 seconds after weaning the start signal present. In the known manual workflow, the procedure lasts several minutes only by the paths that the operator has to travel between X-ray protection room and mammography system.

Already 20 seconds after the start of the procedure, the position of the suspected spot is known and the biopsy can be performed. The significantly reduced time taken to record the stereotactic images causes the patient to move much less during this time, thereby significantly increasing the localization accuracy for the suspicious spot, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the entire biopsy procedure. Due to the greatly shortened duration of the entire biopsy, the patient load decreases considerably.

In an advantageous embodiment of the method, following reception of the start signal and before positioning of the X-ray device in the first recording position, the following additional steps can be performed automatically: The X-ray device is automatically brought into a predefinable overview position from which an overview image of the patient with the X-ray device is automatically taken Operator is displayed. Subsequently, a continuation signal of the operator is waited.

The operator thus has the option of stopping the admission procedure, for example in the event that the patient is not correctly fixed to the mammography system, for example if the suspect point lies outside the field of view of the x-ray device. In this case, he does not trigger a continuation signal, after which the inventive method is terminated at this point. The patient is then, for example, newly positioned at the mammography facility before the procedure according to the invention is restarted. If, however, the continuation signal is received within the method according to the invention, the procedure, as described above, is continued with the automatic positioning of the X-ray device in the first prescribable receiving position.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the method, the method steps of positioning the X-ray device in the first recording position to recording the second image of the patient can be performed as a multi-image sequence. Such a sequence is intrinsic to the mammography system, i. belongs to their specified scope of services. Such a multiple image sequence is therefore a procedure specially tailored or optimized for the respective mammography system, which procedure can thus be carried out particularly quickly and effectively. In the context of the method according to the invention, therefore, the corresponding sequence is merely triggered. The pivoting of the X-ray recording device or preparation of the X-ray images then runs in the mammography system as an automatic independent process time-optimized.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the method, the steps: "pivoting the X-ray device to a receiving position" and "making an X-ray image", in each case for the recording of a predetermined number of further images from different predetermined beam directions repeated. Thus, in the course of the automatic process, an image data set consisting of several individual images is generated by the patient. This can be eg three to seven pictures. By making several images, the location accuracy for the suspicious spot is further increased, so that the biopsy can be performed even more local. The above-mentioned initial scout recording can also be integrated into such an image data record. For the pivoting of the X-ray device between the different recording positions, there are several possibilities. The X-ray device can, for example, as in the past with manual pivoting, be pivoted between two X-ray images in each time interval and rest during the preparation of the X-ray exposure. In an alternative embodiment of the method, however, the pivoting of the X-ray device for recording an image is not interrupted. In other words, the X-rays are taken "on the fly", which significantly reduces the overall procedure time. In this case, it is also possible, for example, to slow down the movement of the x-ray device for the time of the x-ray exposure and then to accelerate it again. For such images taken during the movement of the X-ray device, for example, an image correction for reducing motion artifacts can then take place.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the method, the patient is protected by a protective device, e.g. a mounted on the mammography head shield, protected from the movement of the X-ray device. The patient and operator are thus relieved of controlling the automatic pivoting of the x-ray tube so that the patient does not collide with moving parts of the mammography system.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the method, tomograms are reconstructed from the images with the aid of a tomosynthesis method. This variant of the method is particularly suitable for embodiments of the invention in which more than two x-ray images are automatically acquired by the patient. In such a variant of the method, the usual advantages of a tomosyntic or quasi-tomosyntic 3D image dataset from the patient result from a stereotactic set of exactly two individual images. For a further description of the invention reference is made to the embodiments of the drawings. It shows in a schematic outline sketch:

1 shows a mammography system during a biopsy on a patient.

1 shows a mammography system 2, which comprises a mammography device 4 in a treatment room 30 and a workstation 6 in an operating room 32. Treatment room 30 and control room 32 are, as indicated by a dashed line, radiologically shielded from each other. Especially in mammography, it is also common for the treatment room 30 and operating room 32 to be a single room, both areas, i. Mammography device 4 and workstation 6, separated by a radiation protection wall.

In the mammography device 4 or its compression device 10, a patient 8 is fixed, of which in Fig. 1, only held in the compression device 10 breast 12 is shown. The mammography device 4 also includes one

X-ray device 14. The X-ray device 14 comprises an X-ray source 16 and a flat-panel detector 18. The flat-panel detector 18 also forms, together with a compression plate 20, the compression device 10 for fixing the breast 12. The X-ray device 14 or the X-ray source 16 is connected to a in FIG. 1 perpendicular to the image plane extending pivot axis 22 pivotally mounted on a skeleton 24. However, the pivot axis 22 does not have to lie in the detector plane, as shown. In the position shown in solid line in FIG. 1, the X-ray source 16 is in the CC view position or 0 ° center position, which allows a first vertical viewing direction 26a on the compressed breast 12.

Workstation 6 is a so-called AWS (acquisition workstation). The entire mammography system 2 is operated by a servants 28 over these served. The workstation 6 comprises a screen 34, a control console 36 and a computing unit 38.

In the situation illustrated in FIG. 1, the operator 28 has just fixed the patient 8 in the treatment room 30 on the mammography device 4 and now moves to the operating room 32. The mammography system 2 is in the standby state or a waiting state and thus at the beginning of the method according to the invention. The operator 28 operates a start button 40 on the control panel 36 and thus causes in the workstation 6 a start signal 42. In a first embodiment, the arithmetic unit 38, which had been waiting for this start signal 42, initiates an automatic sequence of actions: First, the mammography device 4 the positioning of the X-ray source 16 in the 0 ° position shown, if this is not already in this position. Then, the arithmetic unit 38 triggers an X-ray dose in the X-ray source 16, whereupon the flat-panel detector 18 is exposed and transmits a first image 44a in the form of a digital X-ray image to the workstation 6, which displays this on the screen 34 to the operator 28. The receptacle 44 a is a so-called scout image, in which the operator 28 checks the correct positioning of the breast 12 in the compression device 10. In the receptacle 44a is also a suspicious spot 46 in the chest 12 visible, which is to undergo biopsy. The mammography system 2 is now again in a waiting state, i. is idle.

Since the operator 28 recognizes the positioning of the breast 12 as being correct by means of the receptacle 44a, he actuates a continuation button 48 and thus triggers a continuation signal 50 in the workstation 6. In the basic form of the method according to the invention, the above steps are omitted and it starts at this point with reception of the start signal 42 instead of the continuation signal 50. The computer 39 detects the continuation signal 50 and performs all the following steps automatically: It causes the mammography device 4, the pivoting of the X-ray source 16 to the viewing direction 26b, which is pivoted relative to the viewing direction 26a by -15 °. Subsequently, the arithmetic unit 38 triggers a further X-ray dose in the X-ray source 16, whereupon the flat-panel detector 18 transmits another X-ray image 44b according to the invention to the workstation 6, which displays this on the screen 34. Subsequently, the arithmetic unit 38 pivots the X-ray source 16 to the viewing direction 26c, which is pivoted by + 15 ° with respect to the viewing direction 26a. Again, the arithmetic unit 38 automatically generates another, the second, X-ray image 44c according to the invention in the manner mentioned above. The X-ray images 44b, c together form a stereotactic image 54a. At this point, the automatic generation of the stereotactic image 54 and thus the inventive method is completed in its basic form.

The stereotactic image 54a is then evaluated by the arithmetic unit 28 in a manner not further explained here in order to determine the three-dimensional spatial position of the location 46 in the coordinate system 56 of the mammography device 4. Previously, the operator was idle except for the initiation of resume signal or start signal 42, i. was in the control room 32. Now, the operator 28 performs the biopsy in the control room 32 or even solves them automatically from the control room 32 without leaving it.

In an alternative variant of the method, the following intermediate steps are automatically carried out in the method: After processing the first X-ray image 44b according to the invention, the arithmetic unit 38 pivots the X-ray source 16 successively to the viewing directions 26d, e. There, the arithmetic unit 38 produces respective X-ray images 44d, e and transmits them to the arithmetic unit 38 or alternatively displays them on the screen 34 as well. Thus arises eg a second stereotactic image 54b. Only then is the x-ray source 16 pivoted to the viewing direction 26c and continued as explained above. The second stereotactic image 54b is used in addition to the location of the suspect site 46.

In a further alternative embodiment, the movement of the x-ray source 16 at the viewing directions 26d, e during the production of the recordings 44d, e is not stopped. These are made on the fly. Alternatively, the motion is slowed down while making recordings to reduce motion artifacts.

Alternatively, all images 44a-e, ie including the scout image, can also be linked in the arithmetic unit 38 by a tomography method 58 to form a 3D image data set 60, which is likewise displayed on the screen 34. From the image data set 60 any slice images 62 are then reconstructed, which are also displayed on the screen 34. In addition, the image data set 60 is also used to locate the suspect point 46.

Claims

claims

1. A method for producing a stereotactic image (54a) of a patient (8) fixed in a mammography device (4) for a biopsy to be performed on the patient (8) with the following steps performed by a control and evaluation unit (36): Waiting for a start signal (42) to be set by an operator (28), b) after receiving the start signal (42), automatic execution of the steps: c1) positioning of an X-ray device (16) of the mammography device (4) in a first prescribable receiving position (FIG. 26b), c2) recording a first image (44b) of the patient (8) with the X-ray device (16), c3) pivoting the X-ray device (16) to one of the first different second predetermined recording position (26c), c4) recording a second Image (44c) of the patient (8) with the X-ray device, c5) providing first (44b) and second image (44c) as stereotactic image (54a).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before step cl) automatically:

- the X-ray device (16) is brought into a predefinable overview position (26a),

an overview photograph (44a) of the patient (8) is made with the X-ray device (16) and displayed to the operator (28),

- Waiting for a continuation signal (50) of the operator (28),

- After receiving the continuation signal (50) with step cl) is continued.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least the steps cl) to c4) as the mammography device (2) own multiple image sequence are executed.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the steps c3) and c4) in each case for the recording of a predeterminable number of further images (44d, e) from different predetermined recording positions (26d, e) are repeated.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein for receiving an image (44b-e) in steps c2) and / or c4), the pivoting of the x-ray device (16) is not interrupted.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the patient (8) by a protective device before the movement of the X-ray device (16) is protected.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein from the images (44a-e) by means of a Tomosyntheseverfah- rens (58) a layer recording (62) is reconstructed.