An approach to automated detection of tumors in mammograms.

An automated system for detecting and classifying particular types of tumors in digitized mammograms is described. The analysis of mammograms is performed in two stages. First, the system identifies pixel groupings that may correspond to tumors. Next, detected pixel groupings are subjected to classification. The essence of the first processing stage is multiresolution image processing based on fuzzy pyramid linking. The second stage uses a classification hierarchy to identify benign and malignant tumors. Each level of the hierarchy uses deterministic or Bayes classifiers and a particular measurement. The measurements pertain to shape and intensity characteristics of particular types of tumors. The classification hierarchy is organized in such a way that the simplest measurements are used at the top, with the system stepping through the hierarchy only when it cannot classify the detected pixel groupings with certainty.