A method for identifying a distinctive region in an ultrasound medical image data set for a patient, comprising: providing an array of classifiers comprising at least a first multi-stage classifier comprising at least a first component classifier and a second component classifier and configured to identify a first distinctive region and a second multi-stage classifier comprising at least a first component classifier and a second component classifier and configured to identify a second distinctive region, wherein the first and second distinctive regions are different and the first and second multi-stage classifiers (204-1, 204-2) are different in order to identify the respective first and second distinctive regions, wherein the first distinctive region is a vulnerable plaque region; and applying the first component classifier of the first multi-stage classifier to an image data set, the first component classifier having a sensitivity configured to identify a first subset of the image data set that is similar to the first distinctive region; applying the second component classifier of the first multi-stage classifier to the first subset, the second component classifier having a specificity configured to confirm the presence of the first distinctive region within the subset; applying the first component classifier of the second multi-stage classifier to the image data set, the first component classifier having a sensitivity configured to identify a second subset of the image data set that is similar to the second distinctive region; and applying the second component classifier of the second multi-stage classifier to the second subset, the second component classifier having a specificity configured to confirm the presence of the second distinctive region within the subset. providing an array of classifiers comprising at least a first multi-stage classifier comprising at least a first component classifier and a second component classifier and configured to identify a first distinctive region and a second multi-stage classifier comprising at least a first component classifier and a second component classifier and configured to identify a second distinctive region, wherein the first and second distinctive regions are different and the first and second multi-stage classifiers (204-1, 204-2) are different in order to identify the respective first and second distinctive regions, wherein the first distinctive region is a vulnerable plaque region; and applying the first component classifier of the first multi-stage classifier to an image data set, the first component classifier having a sensitivity configured to identify a first subset of the image data set that is similar to the first distinctive region; applying the second component classifier of the first multi-stage classifier to the first subset, the second component classifier having a specificity configured to confirm the presence of the first distinctive region within the subset; applying the first component classifier of the second multi-stage classifier to the image data set, the first component classifier having a sensitivity configured to identify a second subset of the image data set that is similar to the second distinctive region; and applying the second component classifier of the second multi-stage classifier to the second subset, the second component classifier having a specificity configured to confirm the presence of the second distinctive region within the subset.