Computerized Analysis of Mammogram Images for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is widespread worldwide and can be cured if diagnosed early. Using digital mammogram images and image processing with artificial intelligence can play an essential role in breast cancer diagnosis. As many computerized algorithms for breast cancer diagnosis have significant limitations, such as noise handling and varying or low contrast in the images, it can be difficult to segment the abnormal region. These challenges could be overcome by proposing a new pre-processing model, exploring its impact on the post-processing module, and testing it on an extensive database. In this research work, the three-step method is proposed and validated on large databases of mammography images. The first step corresponded to the database classification, followed by the second step, which removed the pectoral muscle from the mammogram image. The third stage utilized new image-enhancement techniques and a new segmentation module to detect abnormal regions in a well-enhanced image to diagnose breast cancer. The pre-and post-processing modules are based on novel image processing techniques. The proposed method was tested using data collected from different hospitals in the Qassim Health Cluster, Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. This database contained the five categories in the Breast Imaging and Reporting and Data System and consisted of 2892 images; the proposed method is analyzed using the publicly available Mammographic Image Analysis Society database, which contained 322 images. The proposed method gives good contrast enhancement with peak-signal to noise ratio improvement of 3 dB. The proposed method provides an accuracy of approximately 92% on 2892 images of Qassim Health Cluster, Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia. The proposed method gives approximately 97% on the Mammographic Image Analysis Society database. The novelty of the proposed work is that it could work on all Breast Imaging and Reporting and Data System categories. The performance of the proposed method demonstrated its ability to improve the diagnostic performance of the computerized breast cancer detection method.