AIE image enhancement

 

Mammography-specific image processing technology developed by Advanced Image Enhancements, Inc., is available in the AIE Image Enhancement plug-in module. The processing algorithms enhance morphological features in digital mammography images to create visually sharp and detailed images. Clinical trials have demonstrated this technology improves the conspicuity and detail of abnormalities and improved the clarity of detail in dense breasts. The plug-in module permits users to apply this processing to mammography images, then display and manipulate the results like any other image in the study.

 

AIE Post-processing menu

The AIE image processing menu resides in the Post Processing menu. Its contents are described in the table below.

 

Menu

Item

Description

AIE

Create Image

Apply the AIE image processing to the selected image. The resulting image appears as a new series in the thumbnail panel.

Create Image to Series

Apply the AIE image processing to the selected image. The resulting image appears as another image in the selected series.

Configure

Edit the AIE configuration settings

About AIE

AIE software product details

 

The AIE plug-in configuration panel consists of the following settings.

 

Section

Setting

Description

Image Auto-Generation

No auto-generation

Disable auto-generation of processed images

Add to new  series

Automatically generate processed images and add them as additional series in the thumbnail panel.

Add to current series (Default)

Automatically generate processed images and add them as additional images in their respective series.

Auto-generate breast tomosynthesis images

Automatically generate processed images for breast tomography image objects. Disabled by default.

Auto-generate only for primary study

Automatically generate processed images for the primary (first) study in the session. Enabled by default.

Manufacturer

Auto (Default)

Auto-detect the image source and select applicable processing parameters

General Electric

Process the image as a GE image

Siemens

Process the image as a Siemens image

Hologic

Process the image as a Hologic image

Filter Type

Aggressive (Default)

Apply AIE aggressive processing.

Moderate

Apply AIE moderate processing.

 

Processed Image Generation

There are two ways to generate an AIE enhanced image: manually and automatically. To manually process an image, do the following:

  1. Load a mammography image into an image frame.

  2. From the Post Processing menu, expand the AIE menu and select one of the following:

    1. Create image:: inserts the processed image as a new series in the Thumbnail panel.

    2. Create image to series: inserts the processed image as a new image in the same series as the original image.

The AIE enhanced image replaces the original image in the image frame. Processed images are denoted with an icon in the top left corner of the image. The magnification factor applied to the data in the window is also displayed.

 

The viewer can automatically generate AIE enhanced images when it loads the study. When enabled, the viewer begins processing the data in the background after the full fidelity data is completed loaded. Auto-generation applies to DICOM Digital Mammography X-Ray for Presentation image objects and optionally DICOM Breast Tomosynthesis image objects. To activate automatic generation, do the following:

  1. From the Post processing menu, select AIE and then Configure. The AIE configuration panel pops up.

  2. Under Image auto-generation, select one of the following:

    1. Turn off: disabled automatic generation of AIE enhanced images

    2. New series: process all images and add them to the Thumbnail panel as a new series.

    3. Add to series: process all images and add them as a new image in their series.

  3. If auto-generation is enabled, the following options become available. Set them as necessary.

    1. Auto-generate breast tomosynthesis images: enable to create processed images for every tomosynthesis image in the study.

    2. Auto-generate only for primary study: enable to limit auto-generation to the primary study in the viewer session. Images from other studies can be processed using the manual selection tools.

  4. Click OK to save the settings.

AIE enhanced images can exist in hanging protocols. Regardless of the image auto-generation setting, if a hanging protocol loads an AIE enhanced image into an image frame, the viewer processes it automatically.

 

The enhanced ROI tool displays the AIE enhanced images in a panel that floats over a defined region of the original image.