Army computer attacks mammography applications

Army computer attacks mammography applications

Mammograms play a major role in early breast-cancer detection. According to the American Cancer Society, the earlier the diagnosis and treatment, the better the chances of survival. But because of the nature of breast tissue, subtle details often cannot be seen, particularly in younger women and women on hormone therapy. Breast tissue in these categories of women tends to be too dense to reveal small tumors on normal x-rays. Worse, only about 3 % of information captured on x-ray film can be seen by doctors.

Now, developments at both The Armament Directorate at Eglin AFB (Eglin, FL) and the University of Florida (Orlando, FL) have produced a mammography system capable of detecting tumors as small as 1 mm. The University of Florida uses a wavelet-transform technique to enhance image data. An image-processing language known as image algebra, also developed at the University of Florida, is used to program the wavelet transform. Using workstations, processing for one wavelet parameter may take from one to several hours. Because of this, the Armament Directorate has designed a high-speed computer capable of executing all Image Algebra operations. The design will allow computations of 2 TerraOps/s.

For more information contact Dr. Laine ([email protected]).