The MAGIC-5 CAD for nodule detection in low dose and thin slice lung CTs

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in developed countries. Only 10-15% of all men and women diagnosed with lung cancer live 5 years after the diagnosis. However, the 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed in the early asymptomatic stage of the disease can reach 70%. Early-stage lung cancers can be diagnosed by detecting non-calcified small pulmonary nodules with computed tomography (CT). Computer-aided detection (CAD) could support radiologists in the analysis of the large amount of noisy images generated in screening programs, where low-dose and thin-slice settings are used. The MAGIC-5 project, funded by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN, Italy) and Ministero dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MUR, Italy), developed a multi-method approach based on three CAD algorithms to be used in parallel with a merging of their results: the Channeler Ant Model (CAM), based on Virtual Ant Colonies, the Dot-Enhancement/Pleura Surface Normals/VBNA (DE-PSN-VBNA), and the Region Growing Volume Plateau (RGVP). Preliminary results show quite good performances, to be improved with the refining of the single algorithm and the added value of the results merging.