Masses Characterization Using Active Contour

This paper presents the application of active contour or snake for the segmentation of masses on breast ultrasound images and the characterization of the segmented masses as malignant or benign. Initially, the balloon snake is chosen to segment the masses. Comparison on the masses areas segmented by the balloon snake is done against the areas traced by radiologist. Experimental result shows that from 42 masses tested, the balloon snake successfully segment the masses with accuracy of 96.74%. Then, a segmented mass by the balloon snake is characterized as benign or malignant based on the criteria of “taller than wide” shape. The mass is considered as malignant if the shape is taller than wide. This implies that the shape has a maximum vertical distance greater than maximum horizontal distance. The characterization reading of a mass by the balloon snake based on the criteria is compared with a reading of a mass by an expert radiologist. The comparison is made in terms of sensitivity and specificity values. Based on the values, the ROC (receiver operating characteristics) curve is plotted. It is found that the area under curve is 0.75. The value implies that the balloon snake is good in characterizing benign from malignant mass.