Neural network-based segmentation of dynamic MR mammographic images.

The usefulness of neural networks for the classification of signal-time curves from dynamic MR mammography was recently demonstrated by our group. The multi-layer perceptron under study consists of 28 input, 4 hidden, and 3 output nodes, and was trained to classify signal-time curves into three tissue classes: "carcinoma," "benign lesion," and "parenchyma." Extending this approach, it was the aim of the present study to evaluate the performance of the developed network in the segmentation of dynamic MR mammographic images in comparison to a pixel-by-pixel two-compartment pharmacokinetic analysis. The population investigated in this pilot study comprised 15 women with suspicious lesions in the breast, which were confirmed histologically after the MR examination. The neural network classified the same areas as malignant as those which were marked as being highly suspicious by the pharmacokinetic mapping approach but with the advantage that no a priori knowledge on tissue microcirculation was needed, that computation proved to be much faster, and that it yielded a unique classification into just three tissue classes.