title: Modified Karhunen-Loéve expansion for evaluating skin-colour-associated melanoma risk factors.
abstract: An approach based on the modified Karhunen-Loéve expansion (MKLE) of constitutive and facultative skin colour data acquired by colorimeters in melanoma patients and healthy control subjects, was used to identify two colour features defining skin-colour-associated risk of melanoma. None of four common statistical classifiers trained on colour features were sufficiently accurate for allowing skin colour alone to be used for classification purposes, though a Bayesian quadratic classifier matched the transformed data well. This study supersedes the indeterminate character of most common clinical criteria based on qualitative factors and, irrespective of the results of classification, provides objective skin colour information for the prevention of melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and Biomedical Technology, University of Siena, Italy. cevenini@biolab.med.unisi.it
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cevenini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borzelli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rubegni
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Massai
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andreassi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barbini
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003124:Colorimetry; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008545:Melanoma / Q000209:etiology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D012880:Skin Pigmentation