Toward automated detection of malignant melanoma

Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Abstract: In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy shows promise for the early detection of malignant melanoma (MM). Two hallmarks of MM have been identified: the presence of pagetoid melanocytes in the epidermis and the breakdown of the dermal papillae. For detection of MM, these features must be identified qualitatively by the clinician and qualitatively through automated pattern recognition. A machine vision algorithm was developed for automated detection. The algorithm detected pagetoid melanocytes and breakdown of the dermal/epidermal junction in a pre-selected set of five MMs and five benign nevi for correct diagnosis.