PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately detect a left-right asymmetric shadow candidate region in a pair of left and right breast images.SOLUTION: In the image diagnosis supporting device 10, a polar coordinate system with the location of the nipple as the origin and the straight line 1 indicating the inclination of the breast as the axis is set in a pair of left and right breast images respectively, and the locations in the left and right breast images are correlated with each other. The density of one breast image on the whole is shifted so that the density of a predetermined reference region in one of the left or right breast image matches the density of the reference region in the other breast image, and as a result, the density in one breast image matches the density in the other breast image. Then, the difference value of the density is computed for each corresponding location in the left and right breast images, and a region in which the computed difference value exceeds a predetermined threshold is extracted. Then, based on at least one of the density, the area or the degree of circularity of the extracted region, a left-right asymmetric shadow candidate region is detected from the extracted region.COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT【課題】一対の左右の乳房画像において左右非対称性陰影候補領域を精度良く検出できるようにする。【解決手段】本発明に係る画像診断支援装置10によれば、一対の左右の乳房画像のそれぞれに乳頭の位置を原点、乳房の傾きを示す直線lを軸とする極座標系を設定し左右の乳房画像における位置の対応付けを行う。また、左右の乳房画像のうち一方の乳房画像の予め定められた基準領域の濃度が他方の乳房画像における基準領域の濃度と一致するように一方の乳房画像全体の濃度をシフトして左右の乳房画像の濃度を合わせる。そして、左右の乳房画像の対応する位置毎に、濃度の差分値を算出し、算出された差分値が予め定められた閾値を超える領域を抽出し、抽出された領域の濃度値、面積又は円形度の少なくとも一つに基づいて、抽出された領域の中から左右非対称性陰影候補領域を検出する。【選択図】図2
