Method, apparatus, and storage medium for detection of nodules in biological tissue using wavelet snakes to characterize features in radiographic images

摘要

A method and apparatus for discrimination of nodules and false positives in digital chest radiographs, using a wavelet snake technique. The wavelet snake is a deformable contour designed to identify the boundary of a relatively round object. The shape of the snake is determined by a set of wavelet coefficients in a certain range of scales. Portions of the boundary of a nodule are first extracted using a multiscale edge representation. The multiscale edges are then fitted by a gradient descent procedure which deforms the shape of a wavelet snake by changing its wavelet coefficients. The degree of overlap between the fitted snake and the multiscale edges is calculated and used as a fit quality indicator for discrimination of nodules and false detections.