A region growing technique adapted to precise micro calcification characterization in mammography

To-day, mammography is the only breast screening technique capable of detecting breast cancer at a very early stage. The presence of a breast tumor is indicated by some features on the mammogram. One sign of malignancy is the presence of clusters of fine, granular micro-calcifications. We present here a new three-step method for detecting and characterizing these micro-calcifications. We design with the detection of potential candidates ('seeds'). The aim of this first step is to detect all the pixels be a micro-calcification. Then we focus on our specific region growing technique which provides an accurate extraction of the shape of the region corresponding to each detected seed. This second step is essential because micro-calcifications shape is a very important feature for the diagnosis. It is then possible to determine precise parameters to characterize these micro-calcifications. (authors)