Bilateral Asymmetry Detection in Digital Mammography Using B-Spline Interpolation

Digital mammography allows detection of breast abnormalities in early stage of breast cancer development. One of the abnormalities that may indicate breast cancer in its early stage is bilateral asymmetry. This paper presents computer-aided detection algorithm for bilateral asymmetry that uses B-spline interpolation for breast alignment. Alignment of the right and left breast is important step in computer-aided detection algorithm in order to allow comparison of corresponding points in right and left breast. Differential analysis of breasts is based on simple subtraction technique. The results are highlighted with color in each image and presented on a computer monitor thereby indicating radiologist the regions that need to have a second look and be further investigated. We found that our approach can be a very useful tool for radiologists in detection and diagnosis of bilateral asymmetry.