Analytic wavelets applied for the detection of microcalcifications. A tool for digital mammography

Computerized methods to detect microcalcifications in digital mammograms are being developed. Parallel to this, Wavelet Transform (WT) has become an important tool in the field of signals and images processing. This paper is devoted to the realisation and evaluation of an Analytic Wavelet Transform (AWT) based algorithm for the detection of microcalcifications. AWT has proved to be an efficient tool to detect singularities in real signals. The presented algorithm exploit the flexibility of the transform to reach any resolution at any spatial frequency. To evaluate the numerical results, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves are calculated for several sets of parameters. Results are compared with those obtained with a previously published algorithm using a Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT).