Normal Mammogram Analysis and Recognition

In this paper, we present a novel approach to the problem of computer aided analysis of digital mammograms for breast cancer detection: namely, the development of algorithms to recognize unequivocally normal mammograms. First, we eliminate amorphous “clouds” or “blobs” in mammograms produced by normal glandular tissue of varying density using local average subtraction. Then we identify and remove normal connective tissue markings based on a set of specially designed line detectors. Any abnormality that may exist in the mammogram is therefore enhanced in the residual image, which makes the decision regarding the normality of the mammogram much easier.