title: Fuzzy Clustering Applied to ROI Detection in Helical Thoracic CT Scans with a New Proposal and Variants.
abstract: The detection of pulmonary nodules is one of the most studied problems in the field of medical image analysis due to the great difficulty in the early detection of such nodules and their social impact. The traditional approach involves the development of a multistage CAD system capable of informing the radiologist of the presence or absence of nodules. One stage in such systems is the detection of ROI (regions of interest) that may be nodules in order to reduce the space of the problem. This paper evaluates fuzzy clustering algorithms that employ different classification strategies to achieve this goal. After characterising these algorithms, the authors propose a new algorithm and different variations to improve the results obtained initially. Finally it is shown as the most recent developments in fuzzy clustering are able to detect regions that may be nodules in CT studies. The algorithms were evaluated using helical thoracic CT scans obtained from the database of the LIDC (Lung Image Database Consortium).
authors: Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Faculty of Computer Science, University of A Coruna, Campus de A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
authors: Alfonso
authors: A
authors: Castro
authors: Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Faculty of Computer Science, University of A Coruna, Campus de A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
authors: Alberto
authors: 0000-0003-0470-290X
authors: A
authors: Rey
authors: Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Faculty of Computer Science, University of A Coruna, Campus de A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
authors: Carmen
authors: C
authors: Boveda
authors: Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Faculty of Computer Science, University of A Coruna, Campus de A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
authors: Bernardino
authors: B
authors: Arcay
authors: Radiology Service, Meixoeiro Hospital, Camiño Meixoeiro, 36200 Vigo, Spain.
authors: Pedro
authors: P
authors: Sanjurjo
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D017143:Fuzzy Logic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D003074:Solitary Pulmonary Nodule / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods*