Patent ID: 8781187

Claim:
A method for identifying a region of interest within a mammogram image, the method comprising: applying a clustering algorithm to a histogram of the mammogram image to identify a predefined number of threshold values; determining a predefined number of seed values based at least in part on the identified threshold values; generating, by a processor, a kernel image for each of the seed values by at least: generating a first kernel image having a distribution centered around a first seed value and representing pixels corresponding to a low intensity breast region including a breast skin line; generating a second kernel image having a distribution centered around a second seed value and representing pixels corresponding to a medium intensity breast region including soft breast tissue; and generating a third kernel image having a distribution centered around a third seed value and representing pixels corresponding to a high intensity breast region including any calcified regions of the breast; and using the generated kernel images to identify a region of interest comprising a breast within the mammogram image.