Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2008. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 46-05, page: 2670. Adviser: Stephanie L. McFall. Includes bibliographical references.

Η βελτιστοποίηση της ποιότητας των υπηρεσιών στο χώρο της υγείας είναι επιτακτική στις μέρες μας. Στο χώρο της Ακτινοφυσικής συλλέγεται μεγάλος αριθμός δεδομένων από τη χρήση τυποποιημένων Πρωτοκόλλων Ποιοτικών Ελέγχων, τα αποτελέσματα των οποίων θα μπορούσαν να παρέχουν πολύτιμη πληροφορία για όλες τις σχετικές διεργασίες. Η ανάπτυξη εξειδικευμένων προγραμμάτων εκπαίδευσης των επαγγελματιών υγείας καθιστά αναγκαία την πιστοποίησή τους ώστε να διασφαλίζεται η ποιότητα σπουδών που προσφέρουν. Η χρήση του ηλεκτρονικού εργαλείου QS-PRO (Quality System Processes), ενός γενικευμένου εργαλείου λογισμικού για εφαρμογές που σχετίζονται με ποιότητα των υπηρεσιών συνέβαλλε στην ανάπτυξη συστημάτων ποιότητας σε δύο πεδία, αυτό της διασφάλισης ποιότητας στις διαδικασίες Ποιοτικών Ελέγχων στη Μαστογραφία καθώς και της διαχείρισης ποιότητας στο Μεταπτυχιακό Πρόγραμμα Σπουδών στη Βιοϊατρική Τεχνολογία. Συνοπτικά, το εργαλείο διευκόλυνε στην ανάπτυξη μιας δομής διεργασιών και διαδικασιών που τεκμηριώνονται επαρκώς ώστε να χρησιμοποιηθούν για τους σκοπούς ποιότητας που έχουν τεθεί. Συγκεκριμένα, η ηλεκτρονική έκδοση του Ευρωπαϊκού Πρωτοκόλλου Ποιοτικών Ελέγχων στη Μαστογραφία χαρακτηρίζεται από την αποτελεσματική χαρτογράφηση των ολοκληρωμένων συνεδριών ποιοτικών ελέγχων με καθορισμένες μεταβλητές (μετρήσιμες παραμέτρους και αποτελέσματα) που μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί σε ολοκληρωμένα προγράμματα ελέγχων μονάδων μαστογραφίας. Το Εγχειρίδιο Συστήματος Διαχείρισης Ποιότητας για το Μεταπτυχιακό Πρόγραμμα Σπουδών στη Βιοϊατρική Τεχνολογία αποτελεί έναν οδηγό για όλους όσους συμμετέχουν στην υλοποίηση του προγράμματος και μέσα από τις προσδιορισμένες διαδικασίες μέτρησης και βελτίωσης της ικανοποίησης των φοιτητών και των διδασκόντων των συνεργαζόμενων πανεπιστημίων οδηγεί στη βελτίωση του και ταυτόχρονα στην πιστοποίηση του προγράμματος κατά ISO-9001. / Nowadays, optimization of health services is imperative. Large data sets collected through standardised Quality Control Protocols can provide valuable information cornering the related processes. On the other hand, the development of highly specialised educational programs for health professionals has rendered their certification necessary in order to ensure the quality of the offered services. The adoption of the electronic tool QS-PRO (Quality System Processes) - a standard software tool used for quality applications in services- has significantly contributed to the development of quality systems in two fields: Quality Assurance in Quality Control procedures in Mammography and Quality Management of the European Postgraduate Program on Biomedical Engineering. In short, the tool facilitated the creation of a process structure that is well documented in order to be further applied for reaching already-set quality objectives. More specifically, the electronic version of the European Protocol of Quality Control in Mammography features an effective mapping of complete quality control sessions with specified variables (measurable parameters and outcomes) aimed for further use in integrated quality control trials. The Quality System Manual of the European Postgraduate Program on Biomedical Engineering constitutes a comprehensive guide for all course participants; through measurements and improvements in overall satisfaction levels (by students, staff and collaborating institutions) the aim is to improve the program itself and eventually lead to its certification according to ISO-9001 standards.

The aim of this project is the application of Dual Energy technique in breast phantoms using Complimentary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS)Active-Pixel-Sensor (APS). This includes both, lab experimentation on developed breast phantoms, as well as simulations validating the results. Initially, phantoms were carefully prepared simulating the properties of real breast tissue and were imaged using X-ray unit. The next step in this project involved image processing and data representation. Using the dual energy technique, different concentrations of contrast agent (Iodine) were measured to relate clinical to medium kinetic measurements. With respect to this projects‟ clinical application, the implementation of this technique can be used to evaluate the iodine projected thickness (mg/cm2) using Contrast Enhanced Digital Mammography (CEDM) based on Dual Energy technique for the breast cancer detection. / Ο στόχος του εργασίας αυτής είναι η εφαρμογή της τεχνικής Διπλής Ενέργειας σε ομοιώματα μαστού χρησιμοποιώντας Complimentary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) Active-Pixel-Sensor (APS). Αυτό περιλαμβάνει, τον πειραματισμό σε αναπτυγμένα ομοιώματα μαστού, καθώς και προσομοιώσεις για την επικύρωση των αποτελεσμάτων. Αρχικά, κατασκευάστηκαν προσεκτικά τα ομοιώματα μαστού όπου προσομοιώνουν τις πραγματικές ιδιότητες των ιστών του μαστού και στη συνέχεια απεικονίστηκαν με χρήση μονάδων ακτίνων-Χ . Το επόμενο βήμα σε αυτό την εργασία ήταν η επεξεργασία εικόνας και παρουσίαση δεδομένων. Χρησιμοποιώντας την τεχνική της διπλής ενέργειας, διαφορετικές συγκεντρώσεις σκιαγραφικού (ιώδιο) μετρήθηκαν ώστε να σχετίζουν κλινικά την μέτρηση της αγγειογένεσης εν συναρτήση του χρόνου. Η εφαρμογή αυτής της τεχνικής μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί για να αξιολογήσει το προβλεπόμενο πάχος του ιωδίου (mg/cm^2) χρησιμοποιώντας Ενίσχυση Αντίθεσης στην Ψηφιακή Μαστογραφία βασίσμένη στην τεχνική της διπλής ενέργειας για την ανίχνευση του καρκίνου του μαστού.

Face à l'augmentation significative du taux de mortalité par cancer du sein chez les femmes ainsi que la croissance continue du nombre de mammographies réalisées chaque année, le diagnostic assisté par ordinateur devient de plus en plus impératif pour les experts. Dans notre travail de thèse, une attention particulière est accordée aux masses mammaires vu qu'elles représentent le signe de cancer du sein le plus couramment observé en mammographies. Néanmoins, ces images présentent un très faible contraste, ce qui fait que les frontières entre les tissus sains et les masses sont mal définies. C'est ainsi qu'il est difficile de pouvoir discerner avec précision ces masses et de leur définir un contour unique. En outre, la complexité et la grande variabilité des formes des masses mammaires rendent les tâches de diagnostic et de classification difficiles. Dans ce cadre, nous proposons un système d'aide au diagnostic dont le but est la segmentation de masses dans les régions d'intérêt et par la suite la classification de ces masses en deux catégories : bénignes et malignes. La première étape de segmentation est une étape assez délicate vu que les étapes postérieures à savoir la caractérisation et la classification y sont dépendantes. En effet, une mauvaise segmentation peut entrainer une mauvaise prise de décision. Un tel cas peut survenir en raison de l'incertitude et l'imprécision émanant de l'image mammographique. C'est pour cette raison que nous proposons une définition de contours flous permettant de prendre en compte ces types d'imperfections. Ces contours flous sont introduits dans l'énergie d'un contour actif pour modifier son mouvement et aboutir à une délimitation exacte des masses. Une fois les régions d'intérêt sont segmentées, nous présentons une méthode de classification de masses basée sur la théorie des possibilités qui permet de modéliser les ambigüités inhérentes aux connaissances exprimées par l'expert. En outre, cette méthode utilise essentiellement les descripteurs de forme pour caractériser les masses et décider de leur degré de gravité vu que la forme des masses constitue un bon indicateur de gravité.La validation et l'évaluation de ces deux méthodes sont réalisées en utilisant les régions d'intérêt contenant des masses extraites de la base MIAS. Les résultats obtenus sont très intéressants et les comparaisons effectuées ont mis en évidence leurs performances. / In view of the significant increase in breast cancer mortality rate among women as well as the continuous growth in number of mammograms performed each year, computer-aided diagnosis is becoming more and more imperative for experts. In our thesis work, special attention is given to breast masses as they represent the most common sign of breast cancer in mammograms. Nevertheless, mammographic images have very low contrast and breast masses possess ambiguous margins. Thus, it is difficult to distinguish them from the surrounding parenchymal. Moreover, the complexity and the large variability of breast mass shapes make diagnostic and classification challenging tasks.In this context, we propose a computer-aided diagnosis system which firstly segments masses in regions of interests and then classifies them as benign or malignant. Mass segmentation is a critical step in a computer-aided diagnosis system since it affects the performance of subsequent analysis steps namely feature analysis and classification. Indeed, poor segmentation may lead to poor decision making. Such a case may occur due to two types of imperfection: uncertainty and imprecision. Therefore, we propose to deal with these imperfections using fuzzy contours which are integrated in the energy of an active contour to get a fuzzy-energy based active contour model that is used for final delineation of mass.After mass segmentation, a classification method is proposed. This method is based on possibility theory which allows modeling the ambiguities inherent to the knowledge expressed by the expert. Moreover, since shape and margin characteristics are very important for differentiating between benign and malignant masses, the proposed method is essentially based on shape descriptors.The evaluation of the proposed methods was carried out using the regions of interest containing masses extracted from the MIAS base. The obtained results are very interesting and the comparisons made have demonstrated their performances.

The screening mammography programme has been running succesfully in the Czech republic for 13 years. Due to its ability to uncover earlystages of breast cancer, it helps to fight this serious disease. Although the positive outcome of this programme in the Czech republic has been already proved, there is only approximately 50% of women who have been regularly treated with it.One of the major reasons for this fact is a fear of cancer induction caused by the use of X-rays during the mammography. The main goal of this thesis is to calculate the risk of breast cancer induction caused by the mammography and to compare benefits of the screening programme for a woman who goes for regular checkups and a woman who does not. The measurement of concrete doses was made in one screening centre center located in western bohemia region. The group of observed patients at the age of 45-59 was divided into three categories. The object of measurement was an average dose received during the screening mammography, plus an average dose received during an additional mammography, which may sometimes occure during the examination. These data was studied through a statistic investigation to prove that the received dose is not dependent on the patient´s age. In the theoretical part of this work main principals of the screening mammography programme and mammography itself are repeated. The methods of statistic investigation and the methodology for estimating breast cancer risks based on recommendations of ICRP Publication 103. In the practical part was proved, that the average dose received during the classical mammography does not depend on the age of the patient. This could not be proved for an additional mammography dose, because of not sufficient group of statistic data. The main hypothesis, that regular checkups using the mammographical screening programme is benefical for women , was verified.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T20:50:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-10-27 / Objetivo: Descrever os achados mamográficos, avaliar os indicadores de desempenho das mamografias e descrever o custo direto dos mutirões de mamografia dos anos de 2005 e 2006 na Direção Regional de Saúde de Marília. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo observacional transversal dos achados radiográficos dos mutirões de mamografia dos anos de 2005 e 2006, na região da Direção Regional de Saúde de Marília. Foram realizadas 11.952 mamografias em 8 serviços, em mulheres dos 37 municípios da região, a classificação do resultado da mamografia foi pelo sistema padronizado BI-RADS, os indicadores de desempenho analisados foram os utilizados em auditoria de resultados e a análise de custos foi baseada nos valores pagos pelo Sistema Único de Saúde com base nas Tabelas SIA/SUS e SIH/SUS de 2005. Os dados foram armazenados em planilhas do Excel e posteriormente analisados utilizando o pacote estatístico SPSS Versão 15. Resultados: Das 11.592 mamografias, 9,35% (1.117) foram classificadas na Categoria BI-RADS 0, nas categorias BI-RADS 1 e 2 foram 87,86% (10.501), na categoria BI-RADS 3 foram 2,53% (302) e nas categorias 4 e 5 de 0,26%. A maior participação nos mutirões foi de mulheres na faixa etária de 40 a 49 anos. As faixas etárias de 50 a 59 e 60 a 69 anos representaram 45,59% do total. O Valor Preditivo Positivo dos BI-RADS 4 e 5 foram de 29,63% e 50% respectivamente. Foram diagnosticados 10 casos de câncer de mama (0,84 por 1.000 mamografias), 70% estavam na faixa etária de 50 a 69 anos. O custo total desses mutirões e acompanhamento foi de R{dollar} 450.019,91, sendo R{dollar} 431.467,20 com o pagamento de 11.952 mamografias e R{dollar}18.552,71 para a investigação diagnóstica de 29 casos suspeitos, para o tratamento de três casos de tumores benignos e de 6 casos de câncer. O custo de cada caso diagnosticado foi de R{dollar} 43.268,10. Conclusões: A prescrição médica de exames mamográficos fora da faixa etária recomendada pelo Ministério da Saúde, a baixa proporção de casos de câncer de mama detectados pelos exames e o alto custo de cada caso diagnosticado apontam para a necessidade de implementação de programas de rastreamento efetivos e de qualidade da mamografia nesta região do estado, investimento em programas de capacitação médica em todos os níveis de atenção à saúde, garantia de acesso rápido aos centros secundários e terciários para atendimento integrado e resolutivo dessa população. / Objective: to describe the mammography findings, and to evaluate the performance indicators of the mammographies and describe the direct cost of the mammography campaigns in 2005 and 2006 realized by the Regional Health Section of Marilia. Methods: It is a cross sectional observational study of the radiographic findings during the mammography campaigns of 2005 and 2006, in the Regional Health Section of Marilia. A total of 11.952 mammographies, in 8 health institutions, comprising women from 37 nearby municipalities and the classification of the mammographies outcomes was done according to BI-RADS; the performance indicators analyzed were the ones employed in outcomes auditory and the cost analysis was based on the amount paid by the Unique Health System (SUS), based on the Tables SIA/SUS of 2005. The data were stored in Excel and furthermore analyzed, employing the statistical method SPSS, version 15. Results: From the 11.592 mammographies, 9.35% (1.117) were classified into BI-RADS 0 and for BI-RADS 1 and 2 87.86% (10.501), for the classification BI-RADS 3, 2.53% (302) and for classification 4 and 5, was 0.26%. The highest participation on the campaign comprised women from 40 to 49 years old. Women whose ages ranged from 50 to 59 and 60 to 69 represented 45.59%. The predictive positive value of BI-RADS 4 and 5 were 29.63 and 50% respectively. A total of 10 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed (0.84 per 1000 mammographies), 70% of the ages ranged from 50 to 69 years. The cost of these campaigns and the follow-up cost totaled R{dollar} 450.019.91, considering that R{dollar} 431.467.20 was destined for he payment of 11.952 mammographies and R{dollar}18.552.71 for the diagnoses of 29 suspicious cases, for the treatment of 3 cases of benign tumors and 6 cases of cancer. The cost of each diagnosed case was R{dollar} 43.268.10. Conclusion: The medical prescription for mammographic exams out of the age range recommended by the Ministry of Health, the low proportion of breast cancer cases detected by the exams and the high cost of each diagnosed case, indicate the necessity of implementation of effective screening programs in this region of the state, investing in specific medical programs comprising all levels of health care and fast access to secondary and third party health units for integrated and effective attendance to this specific population. / TEDE / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

Introdução: O cãncer de mama com fenótipo triplo negativo é definido como um tumor com receptor de estrógno e progesterona negativos e human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negativo. Desde sua primeira descrição, alguns artigos tentaram descrever sua aparência radiológica, sem nenhum consenso. Estas pacientes podem ter características clínicas e imaginológicos distintas. Seria interessante verificar se as características radiológicas desses tumores são as mesmas relatadas no câncer de mama familiar e com mutação do gene BRCA1, muitas vezes associados a esse subtipo tumoral. Estas características que muitas vezes simulariam doenças benignas poderiam atrasar o diagnóstico precoce, refletindo a necessidade de seu conhecimento radiológico na prática. Neste contexto, este estudo poderia auxiliar no reconhecimento precoce de lesões mamárias e alertar o médico para solicitar uma biópsia, consequentemente, resultando num diagnóstico precoce. Objetivo: O principal objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar as características radiológicas dos carcinomas ductais invasivos de mama nos seguintes métodos de diagnóstico por imagem: mamografia, ultrassonografia e ressonância magnética, utilizando a padronização do American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR BI-RADS®), comparando os casos de carcinomas com fenótipo triplo negativo dividindo-os em não basal e basal com o uso da citoqueratina 5. Pacientes e Métodos: Revisamos os arquivos de imagens do Instituto de Radiologia (InRad) da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP) e do Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP), durante o período da coleta de dados, que envolveu 12 anos. Trata-se de estudo descritivo observacional, realizado após a aprovação do comitê de ética. Foram avaliadas 6.952 resultados de biópsias cirúrgicas ou percutâneas por agulha grossa de mama e após a verificação do material radiológico e histológico, chegamos ao resultado de 106 casos. Todas as reações imunohistoquímicas foram lidas por dois patologistas e os exames radiológicos foram avaliados por dois radiologistas, todos especialistas em doenças da mama em suas respectivas áreas. Resultados: A maioria das pacientes incluídas foram mulheres brancas, com idade entre 24-81 anos. Na mamografia, a principal lesão observada foi o nódulo (74,7%), com margem espiculada (36,9%) e forma oval (60,0%), seguido pela assimetria focal (12,6%), lesões ocultas (9,2%) e assimetria global (3,4%). Nenhuma lesão principal se manifestou como microcalcificações. Os tumores avaliados pela ressonância magnética se manifestaram principalmente como lesão nodular (92,0%), com forma irregular (60,0%), margem irregular (44%) e realce heterogêneo (56,0%). A curva tipo 3 (91,7%) foi comumente observada. O isosinal em T2 foi mais freqüentemente observado (52,2%). A ausência de áreas císticas foi observada na maioria das lesões (47,8%). Todos os tumores avaliados pelo ultrassom foram vistos, principalmente como nódulos (98,1%), hipoecoicos (90,3%), com forma irregular (61,2%), margem mal definida (34,7%) e o reforço acústico posterior (32,0%) e halo ecogênico (46,6%) foram comumente observados. Conclusão: Não foram encontradas associações estatisticamente significativas das características tumorais e demográficas com os subtipos de tumores (p > 0,05) na mamografia, ultrassom e ressonância magnética. Houve correlaçãos inversa entre a idade e o tamanho do tumor. Apenas no USG os linfonodos positivos apresentaram em média estatisticamente maior tamanho tumoral associado que os linfonodos negativos (p=0,045). Em nossa série, observamos que embora algumas características tenham sido mais frequentes, não houveram características que mostraram diferença estatisticamente significante entre os subtipos. Assim, não se pode atribuir qualquer característica específica que possa melhorar a acurácia diagnóstica / Introduction: Breast cancer with triple negative phenotype is defined as estrogen receptor negative tumor, progesterone receptor negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative. Since its first description, some articles have tried to describe its radiological appearance, with no consensus. These patients can have adverse clinical and imaging characteristics. It would be interesting to check if the radiological characteristics of these tumors are the same related in the familiar breast cancer and associated to the mutation of gene BRCA1, many times associated to this tumor subtype. These characteristics, that many times would simulate benign diseases, could delay the early diagnosis, reflecting the need of its radiological knowledge in practice. In this context, this study could help in the early recognition of breast lesions and alert the doctor to require a biopsy, consequently resulting in an early diagnosis. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the radiological characteristics of breast invasive ductal breast carcinomas with triple negative invasive phenotype in the following diagnostic image methods: mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance, using the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR BIRADS ®) criteria, divided in basal and not basal subtypes with the use of cytokeratin 5. Patients and Methods: We\'ve reviewed the images from the Radiology Institute (InRad) from Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (FMUSP) and from the Cancer Institute of São Paulo (ICESP), during the period of data collecting, which took 12 years. This aims to be an observational descriptive study, realized after the Ethic Committee\'s approval. 6952 results of breast surgical or percutaneous needle biopsies were evaluated and after checking the radiological and histological material, we came to the result of 106 cases. All the immunohistochemical reactions were read by two pathologists and the radiological exams were evaluated by two radiologists, all specialists in breast illnesses in their respective areas. Results: Most patients included were white women, aging between 24-81 years old. In the mammography, the main lesion observed was the nodule (74,7%), spiculated margin (36,9%) and oval shape (60%), followed by focal asymmetry (12,6%), hidden lesions (9,2%) and global asymmetry (3,4%). No main lesion showed microcalcifications. The tumors evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging showed mainly as nodule (92,0%), irregular shaped (60,0%), irregular margin (44,0%) and heterogeneous enhancement (56,0%). The curve type 3 (91,7%) was generally observed. The isosignal in T2 was most frequently observed (52,2%). The absence of cystic areas was observed in most of the lesions (47,8%). The tumors evaluated by the ultrasound were seen principally as nodules (98,1%), hypoechoic (90,3%), irregular shaped (61,2%), ill-defined margin (34,7%) and with posterior acoustic enhancement (32,0%) and echogenic halo (46,6%). Conclusion: There were no statistically significant associations of tumor and demographic characteristics with tumor subtypes (p > 0.05) in mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. There were inverse correlations between the age and the size of the tumor. Only in USG positive lymph nodes had on average larger tumor size with a statistically significant result that the negative lymph nodes (p = 0,045). In our series, we\'ve observed that, although some characteristics have been more frequent, there were no characteristics which showed difference statistically significant among the subtypes. Therefore, we can not attribute any specific characteristic that can improve the diagnostic accuracy

O método mais eficaz para detecção de carcinoma mamário ductal in situ é a mamografia, que apesar de apresentar alta sensibilidade, possui baixa especificidade e não demonstra todos os casos deste tipo de lesão. Assim sendo, pesquisadores têm desenvolvido modalidades por imagem adjuntas à mamografia, das quais a mais promissora talvez seja a ressonância magnética mamária de alta resolução. Neste estudo investigou-se a capacidade da ressonância magnética, realizada em aparelho de 1,5 Tesla, com gradientes de alto desempenho, uso de bobina de superfície dedicada para mama e agente paramagnético por via endovenosa, em demonstrar focos de carcinoma ductal in situ em sua forma pura. Realizou-se análise retrospectiva em 24 pacientes que apresentaram este diagnóstico histológico e haviam sido submetidas à mamografia e à ressonância magnética. Evidenciou-se baixa reprodutibilidade entre os achados mamográficos e os da ressonância magnética mamaria, com discordância em 13 dos 24 casos (54%). Mesmo assim, concluiu-se que a ressonância magnética mamária foi valiosa, pois apesar de ter sido negativa em 5 dos 16 casos mamograficamente detectados (20,83%) revelou 8 focos de carcinoma ductal in situ não vistos à mamografia (33,33%), contribuindo de modo decisivo para o planejamento terapêutico destas pacientes. / Mammography is the most effective method to detect ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast. However, despite its high sensitivity, its specificity is low and some foci of ductal carcinoma in situ may not be detected by it. This fact has encouraged researchers to develop imaging methods adjunctive to mammography of which high resolution magnetic resonance imaging is perhaps the most promising. The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of magnetic resonance imaging, performed in a 1.5 Tesla system with high performance gradients, the use of breast dedicated surface coil and intravenous paramagnetic agent to demonstrate foci of pure ductal carcinoma in situ. Retrospective analysis was performed to the examinations of 24 patients with this pathologic diagnosis that have been subjected to both mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging. This study revealed that the concordance rates between mammography and magnetic resonance imaging provided low reprodutibility, being discordant in 13 of the 24 cases (54%). However, we concluded that breast magnetic resonance imaging was valuable because, despite of not depicting 5 of 16 mammographically detected cases (20,83%), it was able to detect 8 foci of ductal carcinoma in situ exclusively (33,33%), contributing to the therapeutic planning for these patients.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:36:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1384872 bytes, checksum: 17a26f8a3828692a7cd893ffaf2ff3f9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-04-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The usage of mammographic image databases in digital form and the practice of telemedicine require to store and to transmit large amounts of data. The image digitization from a single mammographic exam with appropriate resolution can take up to 120MB of space in disk, which becomes even more critical when considering the large number of exams per day on a clinic. Thus, efficient data compression techniques are needed to reduce storage and transmission costs. This document describes the development of a high-performance lossless compressor based on Prediction by Partial Matching (PPM) algorithm with modules for segmentation, mapping, gray code, bit planes decomposition and move-to-front transform, for mammographic image compression. The compressor developed was efficient in both compression ratio and processing time, and compresses 27MB images in about 13 seconds with an average compression ratio of 5,39. / A utilização de bancos de dados de imagens mamográficas em formato digital e as práticas de telemedicina exigem que se armazene e transmita grandes quantidades de dados. A digitalização das quatro imagens de um único exame mamográfico com resolução adequada pode ocupar até 120MB de espaço em disco. Esta quantidade de dados leva a uma situação ainda mais crítica ao considerar-se o grande número de exames diários efetuados rotineiramente em uma clínica. Assim, técnicas eficientes de compressão de dados são necessárias para reduzir os custos relativos ao armazenamento e à transmissão destas imagens. O presente trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento de um sistema de alto desempenho para compressão sem perdas de imagens mamográficas baseado no algoritmo Prediction by Partial Matching (PPM), em conjunto com módulos para segmentação, mapeamento, codificação com Código Gray, decomposição em planos de bits e transformada move-to-front (MTF). O sistema desenvolvido mostrou-se eficiente tanto no que tange à razão de compressão quanto ao tempo de processamento, comprimindo imagens de 27MB em aproximadamente 13 segundos com razão de compressão média de 5,39.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:36:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 4611703 bytes, checksum: c5e21f035f26ff6959248fbd243a0217 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Breast cancer is the most common cause of death by cancer in the female population and a serious world health problem. The mammographic exam allows an early detection which reduces the mortality rate of the disease. Its efficiency has made it the standard procedure for breast cancer diagnosis. These reasons have led to the development of Computer-Aided Detection and Diagnosis (CADDx) systems that assist the physician by working as a second opinion in the diagnostic. One of the algorithms studied during the development of this work, the mass detection algorithm created by Ozekes et al, has shown great potential reaching 99% of sensibility when applied in the test group images. However, its many parameters and the need to manual calibrate them make it impossible to use it in the constructions of practical CADDx systems. This work presents an automatic method for mass detection in mammography based on the algorithm of Ozekes et al. Multilayer Perceptron artificial neural networks (ANN) are used as functional approximators to automatically calibrate the necessary parameters of the proposed method. The computation of the neural networks produces the values used as parameters for thresholding and template application stages. Feature selection and network topologies were chosen by means of empirical tests. Results show in its best configuration point 82% of sensibility and 7,51 false positives per image. After a false positive reduction, 74% of sensibility and 3,56 false positives per image were achieved. Future works include the study of a wider set of image features and preprocessing algorithms. / O câncer de mama é a causa mais comum de morte por câncer na população feminina e um sério problema de saúde mundial. A mamografia permite uma detecção precoce do câncer, reduzindo a mortalidade da doença. Sua eficiência tornou-a procedimento padrão para diagnóstico do câncer de mama. Essas razões levaram ao desenvolvimento de sistemas computadorizados para o auxílio à detecção e ao diagnóstico - em inglês, Computer-Aided Detection and Diagnosis (CADDx) - que auxiliam os profissionais da saúde provendo uma segunda opinião ao diagnóstico. Um dos algoritmos estudados durante o desenvolvimento do trabalho, o algoritmo para detecção de massas criado por Ozekes et al, mostrou grande potencial atingindo 99% de sensibilidade quando aplicado nas imagens testadas. Entretanto, seus muitos parâmetros, e a calibração manual de cada um deles, tornam impossível a aplicação do algoritmo na construção de sistemas CADDx reais. Esse trabalho apresenta um método automático para detecção de massas em mamografias baseado no algoritmo de Ozekes et al. Redes neurais artificiais (RNA) Perceptron multicamadas são usadas como aproximadores universais para a calibração dos parâmetros necessários ao método. A computação dessas redes produz os valores que deverão ser usados como parâmetros para as etapas de binarização e aplicação dos templates. A seleção de atributos e topologias das redes neurais foi definida empiricamente. Resultados mostram, na melhor configuração do sistema, 82% de sensibilidade 7,51 falsos positivos por imagem e, após uma redução de falsos positivos, 74% de sensibilidade e 3,56 de falsos positivos por imagem. Trabalhos futuros incluem o estudo de mais atributos e descritores de imagens além da experimentação de outros algoritmos para pré-processamento.