Unveiling sequential layered heterogeneity in multi-spectral transmission images clustering through iterative terrace compression with adaptive neighborhoods analysis

Abstract

Multi-spectral transmission imaging looks forward to an early breast cancer screening with cost-effectiveness, safety, and ease of use. However, the biological tissue of the breast owns scattering and strong absorption properties, resulting in transmission images with a low signal-to-noise ratio and prior investigation focused on detection heterogeneity within a single layer, but the different depths in heterogeneity due to the spherical shape of the breast causing the challenges. Accurately detecting heterogeneity in different layers is crucial due to low contrast, veiling layers, and unclear boundaries, which can be difficult to identify in clustering and segmentation. The breast heterogeneity identification can be handled by combining image processing techniques; nevertheless, considering labeling limits and data accessibility, the clustering algorithm provides an acceptable substitute. Therefore, the paper proposes a novel methodology integrating the iterative terrace compression method with adaptive neighborhoods analysis to identify sequential multi-layered heterogeneity and enhance the clustering of multi-spectral transmission images. Our experimental setup involved the collection of low grayscale images across six wavelengths, followed by advanced image processing techniques, including frame accumulation to improve image signal-to-noise ratio and then polynomial surface fitting to eliminate trend items from uneven light. After that, iterative terrace compression with adaptive neighborhoods analysis is applied to reduce redundancy and unveil heterogeneity in different layers and window functions to remove unnecessary gray information. Finally, clustering combined with pseudo-color is used for clustering analysis and visual representation for aiding in heterogeneity detection. Results indicate a significant improvement in detection metrics, with our method outpacing existing techniques regarding the Dice coefficient, F1 score, and Jaccard. This innovative approach not only enhances the characterization of breast tissue heterogeneities in different layers but also promises practical clinical applications in breast cancer screening.