Fractal dimension analysis of malignant and benign endobronchial ultrasound nodes

Abstract

BackgroundEndobronchial ultrasonography (EBUS) has been applied as a routine procedure for the diagnostic of hiliar and mediastinal nodes. The authors assessed the relationship between the echographic appearance of mediastinal nodes, based on endobronchial ultrasound images, and the likelihood of malignancy.MethodsThe images of twelve malignant and eleven benign nodes were evaluated. A previous processing method was applied to improve the quality of the images and to enhance the details. Texture and morphology parameters analyzed were: the image texture of the echographies and a fractal dimension that expressed the relationship between area and perimeter of the structures that appear in the image, and characterizes the convoluted inner structure of the hiliar and mediastinal nodes.ResultsProcessed images showed that relationship between log perimeter and log area of hilar nodes was lineal (i.e. perimeter vs. area follow a power law). Fractal dimension was lower in the malignant nodes compared with non-malignant nodes (1.47(0.09), 1.53(0.10) mean(SD), Mann–Whitney U test p < 0.05)).ConclusionFractal dimension of ultrasonographic images of mediastinal nodes obtained through endobronchial ultrasound differ in malignant nodes from non-malignant. This parameter could differentiate malignat and non-malignat mediastinic and hiliar nodes.

Biocomplexity and Fractality in the Search of Biomarkers of Aging and Pathology: Mitochondrial DNA Profiling of Parkinson’s Disease

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On the fractal analysis of gene sequences involved in atherosclerosis by binary image indicator matrix

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Fractal Dimension Differentiation between Benign and Malignant Thyroid Nodules from Ultrasonography

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