Computerized diagnosis of breast calcifications using specimen radiography and simulated calcifications

摘要

Several image-degrading factors limit the diagnosis of breast calcification from preoperative mammograms. We use specimen radiographs and algorithmically 3D-simulated calcification to produce high-quality data for testing a computerized differential diagnosis system. The preliminary results show that a computer can indeed differentiate explicitly between several mammographically characteristic calcification types. For a radiologist, such a detailed diagnosis could be more useful than simply characterizing the malignancy of the calcification. The results show new possibilities for the future diagnosis systems based on direct digital preoperative imaging.