Title: A rough set based data model for breast cancer mammographic mass diagnostics

Authors: Aaron Don M. Africa; Melvin K. Cabatuan

Addresses: Electronics and Communications Engineering Department, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines ' Electronics and Communications Engineering Department, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines

Abstract: Breast cancer is the principal cause of cancer deaths among women, and early diagnosis is critical to its survival. Mammography is the recommended diagnostic procedure for ages 40 years and older. However, the low precision rate of mammographic result leads to needless biopsies. Thus, in this paper, we present the application of rough set theory in the development of a data model to aid in physician's recommendation for biopsy. In particular, we will utilise the data obtained at the Institute of Radiology of the University Erlangen-Nuremberg between 2003 and 2006. The results showed that the rough set approach successfully reduced the dimensionality of the aforementioned data set by approximately 47%, and the outcome rules were validated using empirical testing at 100%.

Keywords: rough set theory; breast cancer; biomedical engineering; decision support systems; DSS: rough sets; data modelling; mammographic mass diagnostics; mammography; biopsies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2015.071010

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2015 Vol.18 No.4, pp.359 - 369

Received: 15 Oct 2014
Accepted: 02 Mar 2015

Published online: 05 Aug 2015 *

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