title: Use of the K-distribution for classification of breast masses.
abstract: The K-distribution had been introduced as a valid model to represent the statistics of the envelope of the backscattered echo from phantom and tissue. This paper investigates the efficacy of the parameters of this statistical model; namely, the effective number and the effective cross-section, to characterize breast lesions as benign or malignant. Based on the normalized values of the effective number and the effective scattering cross-section, images containing benign and malignant masses were classified for a data set from 52 patients having breast masses/lesions. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were then obtained to test the classification based on these two parameters. The results indicate that the parameters of the K-distribution may be useful in classification of the breast lesions as benign and malignant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. pshankar@coe.drexel.edu
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Dumane
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Genis
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Forsberg
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Piccoli
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Goldberg
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012372:ROC Curve; D016008:Statistical Distributions; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary