AUTOMATIC CALIBRATION OF COMPUTER AIDED DIAGNOSIS BASED ON RETROSPECTIVE EXAMINATION

摘要

A method for automatic detection of lesions within a medical image include acquiring medical image data (S31). Regions of suspicion are automatically identified within the medical image data (S32). It is automatically determined whether each identified region of suspicion is of a benign state, is of a suspicious state that requires a biopsy, or is of an indeterminate state that requires subsequent imaging after a particular length of time (S33). When an identified region of suspicion is determined to be of an indeterminate state, the determination is automatically reconsidered in light of a calibration factor that biases the automatic determination towards either a benign state or a suspicious state (S36). The calibration factor may be based on data collected from follow-up examinations that reveal whether a lesion previously characterized as indeterminate was actually a benign or malignant lesion (S38) or on additional diagnostic information including prior image data or non-image data.