Breast Density Analysis in 3-D Whole Breast Ultrasound Images

The breast density information is one of important factors for estimating the risk in breast cancer detection and early prevention. In this paper, we present two methods, including threshold-based and proportion-based, to automatically analyze the breast density using whole breast ultrasound. The two algorithms are experimented with 32 cases which are scanned from 32 patients using the US machine SSD-5500 with a recent developed scanner ASU-1004 (Aloka, Japan). The experimental results are graded from 4 (extremely dense tissue) to 1 (almost entirely fat), and respectively compared with the majority grades of three radiologists. The accuracy of the threshold-based and proportion-based strategies is 88% and 84% respectively

[1]  Dev P. Chakraborty,et al.  Breast tissue density quantification via digitized mammograms , 2001, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[2]  A. Miller,et al.  Quantitative classification of mammographic densities and breast cancer risk: results from the Canadian National Breast Screening Study. , 1995, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[3]  J. Otten,et al.  Mammographic breast density and risk of breast cancer: Masking bias or causality? , 1998, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[4]  Ming-Feng Hou,et al.  Comparison of breast mammography, sonography and physical examination for screening women at high risk of breast cancer in taiwan. , 2002, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[5]  James F. Greenleaf,et al.  Adaptive speckle reduction filter for log-compressed B-scan images , 1996, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[6]  S. Woolf United States preventive services task force recommendations on breast cancer screening , 1992, Cancer.

[7]  Lubomir M. Hadjiiski,et al.  Computerized image analysis: estimation of breast density on mammograms. , 2001, Medical physics.

[8]  Rangaraj M. Rangayyan,et al.  Recent Advances in Breast Imaging, Mammography, and Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Breast Cancer , 2006 .

[9]  L. Liberman,et al.  Breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS). , 2002, Radiologic clinics of North America.

[10]  Taylor Murray,et al.  Cancer statistics, 1998 , 1998, CA: a cancer journal for clinicians.

[11]  N. Otsu A threshold selection method from gray level histograms , 1979 .