# Segmentation of Breast Microcalcifications: A Multi-Scale Approach

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.00754 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.00754/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 1 Feb 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Spatial Matching of 2D Mammography Images and Specimen Radiographs: Towards Improved Characterization of Suspicious Microcalcifications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.13237/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Accurate characterization of microcalcifications (MCs) in 2D full-field digital screening mammography is a necessary step towards reducing diagnostic uncertainty associated with the callback of women with suspicious MCs. Quantitative analysis of MCs has the potential to better identify MCs that have a higher likelihood of corresponding to invasive cancer. However, automated identification and segmentation of MCs remains a challenging task with high false positive rates. We present Hessian Difference of Gaussians Regression (HDoGReg), a two stage multi-scale approach to MC segmentation. Candidate high optical density objects are first delineated using blob detection and Hessian analysis. A regression convolutional network, trained to output a function with higher response near MCs, chooses the objects which constitute actual MCs. The method is trained and validated on 435 mammograms from two separate datasets. HDoGReg achieved a mean intersection over the union of 0.670±0.121 per image, intersection over the union per MC object of 0.607±0.250 and true positive rate of 0.744 at 0.4 false positive detections per cm2. The results of HDoGReg perform better when compared to state-of-the-art MC segmentation and detection methods.