Procedure for automatic position-finding of points of interest during a mammography examination using stereotactic technique

摘要

A process is disclosed which involves automatic position-finding for a point of interest of an object that exhibits high contrast as compared with surrounding tissues, the process being carried out by means of a stereotactic photographic device that includes a digital image acquisition system. The process includes a number of steps for each image belonging to the pair of stereotactic images. An initial analysis of a histogram of the image pixels are made, and a subsequent determination is made of a threshold corresponding to the difference between the high contrast objects and the surrounding tissues. A subsequent determination is made of the threshold of the image, in order to obtain a binary image incorporating two gray levels. This is followed by the filtering of the threshold determined image in the preceding step, based on morphological criteria of the object in which the point of interest is located. This operation is designed to obtain a segmented projection of the object of interest. This is followed by the localization of the point of interest in the image reference mark. Utilization of the process is for stereotactic examinations performed during mammography.