A computer-aided diagnosis system for digital mammograms based on fuzzy-neural and feature extraction techniques

IEEE Trans Inf Technol Biomed. 2001 Mar;5(1):46-54. doi: 10.1109/4233.908389.

Abstract

An intelligent computer-aided diagnosis system can be very helpful for radiologist in detecting and diagnosing microcalcifications' patterns earlier and faster than typical screening programs. In this paper, we present a system based on fuzzy-neural and feature extraction techniques for detecting and diagnosing microcalcifications' patterns in digital mammograms. We have investigated and analyzed a number of feature extraction techniques and found that a combination of three features, such as entropy, standard deviation, and number of pixels, is the best combination to distinguish a benign microcalcification pattern from one that is malignant. A fuzzy technique in conjunction with three features was used to detect a microcalcification pattern and a neural network to classify it into benign/malignant. The system was developed on a Windows platform. It is an easy to use intelligent system that gives the user options to diagnose, detect, enlarge, zoom, and measure distances of areas in digital mammograms.

MeSH terms

  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted*
  • Female
  • Fuzzy Logic*
  • Humans
  • Mammography / methods*