GPCALMA, a mammographic CAD in a GRID connection

Abstract The purpose of this work is the development of an automatic system which could be useful for radiologists in the investigation of breast cancer. A breast neoplasia is often marked by the presence of microcalcifications and massive lesions in the mammogram: hence the need for tools able to recognize such lesions at an early stage. Grid Platform Computer-Assisted Library for MAmmography (GPCALMA), a collaboration among Italian physicists and radiologists, has built a large distributed database of digitized mammographic images (at this moment about 5500 images corresponding to 1650 patients). This collaboration has developed a Computer Aided Detection (CAD) system which, installed in an integrated station, can also be used for digitization, as archive, and to perform statistical analysis. With a GRID configuration, it would be possible for clinicians tele- and co-working in new and innovative groupings (‘virtual organizations’), and using the whole database, by the GPCALMA tools, several analysis can be performed. Furthermore, GPCALMA allows to be abreast of the CAD technical progressing into several hospital locations always with remote working by GRID connection. We report in the results obtained by the GPCALMA CAD software implemented with a GRID connection.