A method for detecting suspicious regions in mammograms based on multiscale image filtering and regression-line analysis

Early detection of breast cancer is an important task for preventing the loss of lives/breasts of the women. In this paper we propose a method for detecting suspicious features of breast cancers on mammograms by the combination of multiscale image filtering and regression-line analysis. Images are represented and analyzed at different scales. Calcifications are detected on the finest resolution, masses and mammary glands are detected on a more abstracted plane. After detecting mammary glands, we apply linear regression to the parts of mammary ducts, and estimates the degree of concentration by the measure of average minimal distance to the concentration point. Experimental results on the DDSM mammography images demonstrate that these approaches could contribute to the successful detection of these features.