Automatic Classification of Focal Lesions in Ultrasound Liver Images using Principal Component Analysis and Neural Networks

Ultrasound Medical Imaging is currently the most popular modality for diagnostic application. This imaging technique has been used for the detecting abnormalities associated with abdominal organs like liver, kidney, uterus etc. In this paper, the possibilities of automatic classification of the ultrasound liver images into four classes-normal, cyst, benign and malignant masses, using texture features are explored. These texture features are extracted using the various statistical and spectral methods. The optimal feature selection process is carried out manually to pick the best discriminating features from the extracted texture parameters. Also, the method of principal component analysis is used to extract the principal features or directions of maximum information from the data set there by automatically selecting the optimal features. Using these optimal features, a final combined feature set is formed and is employed for classification of the liver lesions into respective classes. K-means clustering and neural network based automatic classifiers are employed in this process. The classifier design and its performance are studied. This paper summarizes the various statistical and spectral texture parameter extraction processes, optimal feature selection techniques and automated classification procedures involved in our work.