Multi-Level Fusion in Ultrasound for Cancer Detection Based on Uniform LBP Features

Collective improvement in the acceptable or desirable accuracy level of breast cancer image-related pattern recognition using various schemes remains challenging. Despite the combination of multiple schemes to achieve superior ultrasound image pattern recognition by reducing the speckle noise, an enhanced technique is not achieved. The purpose of this study is to introduce a features-based fusion scheme based on enhancement uniform-Local Binary Pattern (LBP) and filtered noise reduction. To surmount the above limitations and achieve the aim of the study, a new descriptor that enhances the LBP features based on the new threshold has been proposed. This paper proposes a multi-level fusion scheme for the auto-classification of the static ultrasound images of breast cancer, which was attained in two stages. First, several images were generated from a single image using the pre-processing method. The median and Wiener filters were utilized to lessen the speckle noise and enhance the ultrasound image texture. This strategy allowed the extraction of a powerful feature by reducing the overlap between the benign and malignant image classes. Second, the fusion mechanism allowed the production of diverse features from different filtered images. The feasibility of using the LBP-based texture feature to categorize the ultrasound images was demonstrated. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is tested on 250 ultrasound images comprising 100 and 150 benign and malignant images, respectively. The proposed method achieved very high accuracy (98%), sensitivity (98%), and specificity (99%). As a result, the fusion process that can help achieve a powerful decision based on different features produced from different filtered images improved the results of the new descriptor of LBP features in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity.

Automated summary

The study introduces a features-based fusion scheme to improve automatic classification accuracy of breast cancer ultrasound images. By generating diverse features from different filtered images, the overlap between benign and malignant image classes is reduced, enhancing the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the new descriptor of LBP features.