Neural Networks for the Classification of Benign and Malignant Patterns in Digital Mammograms

This chapter presents neural network-based techniques for the classification of micro-calcification patterns in digital mammograms. Artificial neural network (ANN) applications in digital mammography are mainly focused on feature extraction, feature selection, and classification of micro-calcification patterns into ‘benign’ and ‘malignant’. An extensive review of neural network based techniques in digital mammography is presented. Recent developments such as auto-associators and evolutionary neural networks for feature extraction and selection are presented. Experimental results using ANN techniques on a benchmark database are described and analysed. Finally, a comparison of various neural network-based techniques is presented. INtrODUctION