Rule-Based CAD of Digitized Mammograms

描述(申请人提供)：鉴于乳房X光检查在一般乳腺癌的早期识别，特别是在筛查中的重要性已被公认和广泛接受，近年来，用于乳房X光检查的计算机辅助诊断(CAD)方案得到了广泛的开发和研究。一些CAD系统的诊断性能已经达到了临床实用的程度。然而，尽管作出了重大努力和重大改进，但CAD方案的性能水平，特别是与群众有关的性能水平，仍然不是最理想的。此外，不仅要探索优化这些方案的方法，而且要评估和比较它们在临床环境中的性能和稳健性，这一点变得越来越重要。随着我们在早期阶段加大努力发现异常，这一领域可能会在几个重要领域逐步取得进展。在这个项目中，我们建议继续进行各种研究，以改进和测试我们自己的几个CAD方案的性能和健壮性。我们还将评估与系统性能相关的一些问题，当有多个图像可用时，例如多个视图或图像序列，并用于优化诊断检查的结果。我们将开发的许多方法和我们建议使用的技术，以优化这些方案的性能和确保稳健性，应该适用于这一领域和相关领域的其他研究。最后，不同集团(和公司)制定的方案之间没有直接的比较，这将使人们能够更好地了解不同方法的一些优点和局限性。我们建议在项目期间对大量经活检证实的病例进行两次这样的检查。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Given the recognized and widely accepted importance of mammography in early identification of breast cancer in general, and in screening, in particular, computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) schemes for mammography have been developed and investigated extensively in recent years. The diagnostic performance of some CAD systems is at the point where clinical utility has been demonstrated. However, despite significant efforts and major improvements, the performance level of CAD schemes, particularly as related to masses, remains less than optimal. In addition, it is becoming increasingly important to explore ways not only to optimize these schemes, but also to assess and compare their performance and robustness when used in the clinical environment. As we increase efforts to detect abnormalities at an earlier stage, this field is likely to progress incrementally in several important areas. In this project, we propose to continue to conduct a variety of studies to improve and test the performance and robustness of several of our own CAD schemes. We will also assess a number of issues associated with system's performance when multiple images, such as multiple views or sequences of images, are available and are used to optimize the results of a diagnostic examination. Many of the methods we will develop and the techniques we propose to use in order to optimize performance and assure robustness of these schemes should be applicable to other investigations in this and related fields. Last, there is no direct comparison of schemes developed by different groups (and companies) that will enable a better understanding of some of the advantages and limitations of different approaches. We propose to do so twice during the project on a large number of biopsy-proven cases.