title: Fractal analysis of elastographic images for automatic detection of diffuse diseases of salivary glands: preliminary results.
abstract: The geometry of some medical images of tissues, obtained by elastography and ultrasonography, is characterized in terms of complexity parameters such as the fractal dimension (FD). It is well known that in any image there are very subtle details that are not easily detectable by the human eye. However, in many cases like medical imaging diagnosis, these details are very important since they might contain some hidden information about the possible existence of certain pathological lesions like tissue degeneration, inflammation, or tumors. Therefore, an automatic method of analysis could be an expedient tool for physicians to give a faultless diagnosis. The fractal analysis is of great importance in relation to a quantitative evaluation of "real-time" elastography, a procedure considered to be operator dependent in the current clinical practice. Mathematical analysis reveals significant discrepancies among normal and pathological image patterns. The main objective of our work is to demonstrate the clinical utility of this procedure on an ultrasound image corresponding to a submandibular diffuse pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Haţieganu", Cardinal Hossu Street 37, 400 029 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Alexandru Florin
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Badea
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lupsor Platon
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crisan
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cattani
authors.forename: Iulia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Badea
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pierro
authors.forename: Gianpaolo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sannino
authors.forename: Grigore
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baciut
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D017709:Fractals; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012466:Salivary Gland Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012793:Sialadenitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013364:Submandibular Gland Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging