Neutro-Connectedness Theory, Algorithms and Applications

Connectedness is an important topological property and has been widely studied in digital topology. However, three main challenges exist in applying connectedness to solve real world problems: (1) the definitions of connectedness based on the classic and fuzzy logic cannot model the “hidden factors” that could influence our decision-making; (2) these definitions are too general to be applied to solve complex problem; and (4) many measurements of connectedness are heavily dependent on the shape (spatial distribution of vertices) of the graph and violate the intuitive idea of connectedness. This research focused on solving these challenges by redesigning the connectedness theory, developing fast algorithms for connectedness computation, and applying the newly proposed theory and algorithms to solve challenges in real problems. The newly proposed Neutro-Connectedness (NC) generalizes the conventional definitions of connectedness and can model uncertainty and describe the part and the whole relationship. By applying the dynamic programming strategy, a fast algorithm was proposed to calculate NC for general dataset. It is not just calculating NC map, and the output NC forest can discover a dataset’s topological structure regarding connectedness. In the first application, interactive image segmentation, two approaches were proposed to solve the two most difficult challenges: user interaction-dependence and intense interaction. The first approach, named NC-Cut, models global topologic property among image regions and reduces the dependence of segmentation performance on the appearance models generated by user interactions. It is less sensitive to the initial region of interest (ROI) than four state-of-the-art ROI-based methods. The second approach, named EISeg, provides user with visual clues to guide the interacting process based on NC. It reduces user interaction greatly by guiding user to where interacting can produce the best segmentation results. In the second application, NC was utilized to solve the challenge of weak boundary problem in breast ultrasound image segmentation. The approach can model the indeterminacy resulted from weak boundaries better than fuzzy connectedness, and achieved more accurate and robust result on our dataset with 131 breast tumor cases

Breast ultrasound lesions recognition::end-to-end deep learning approaches

Multistage processing of automated breast ultrasound lesions recognition is dependent on the performance of prior stages. To improve the current state of the art, we propose the use of end-to-end deep learning approaches using fully convolutional networks (FCNs), namely FCN-AlexNet, FCN-32s, FCN-16s, and FCN-8s for semantic segmentation of breast lesions. We use pretrained models based on ImageNet and transfer learning to overcome the issue of data deficiency. We evaluate our results on two datasets, which consist of a total of 113 malignant and 356 benign lesions. To assess the performance, we conduct fivefold cross validation using the following split: 70% for training data, 10% for validation data, and 20% testing data. The results showed that our proposed method performed better on benign lesions, with a top "mean Dice" score of 0.7626 with FCN-16s, when compared with the malignant lesions with a top mean Dice score of 0.5484 with FCN-8s. When considering the number of images with Dice score >0.5 , 89.6% of the benign lesions were successfully segmented and correctly recognised, whereas 60.6% of the malignant lesions were successfully segmented and correctly recognized. We conclude the paper by addressing the future challenges of the work

Improved graph cut model with features of superpixels and neighborhood patches for myocardium segmentation from ultrasound image

Ultrasound (US) imaging has the technical advantages for the functional evaluation of myocardium compared with other imaging modalities. However, it is a challenge of extracting the myocardial tissues from the background due to low quality of US imaging. To better extract the myocardial tissues, this study proposes a semi-supervised segmentation method of fast Superpixels and Neighborhood Patches based Continuous Min-Cut (fSP-CMC). The US image is represented by a graph, which is constructed depending on the features of superpixels and neighborhood patches

Deep-Learning-Based Computer- Aided Systems for Breast Cancer Imaging: A Critical Review

[EN] This paper provides a critical review of the literature on deep learning applications in breast tumor diagnosis using ultrasound and mammography images. It also summarizes recent advances in computer-aided diagnosis/detection (CAD) systems, which make use of new deep learning methods to automatically recognize breast images and improve the accuracy of diagnoses made by radiologists. This review is based upon published literature in the past decade (January 2010-January 2020), where we obtained around 250 research articles, and after an eligibility process, 59 articles were presented in more detail. The main findings in the classification process revealed that new DL-CAD methods are useful and effective screening tools for breast cancer, thus reducing the need for manual feature extraction. The breast tumor research community can utilize this survey as a basis for their current and future studies.This project has been co-financed by the Spanish Government Grant PID2019-107790RB-C22, "Software development for a continuous PET crystal systems applied to breast cancer".Jiménez-Gaona, Y.; Rodríguez Álvarez, MJ.; Lakshminarayanan, V. (2020). Deep-Learning-Based Computer- Aided Systems for Breast Cancer Imaging: A Critical Review. Applied Sciences. 10(22):1-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10228298S1291022Jemal, A., Bray, F., Center, M. M., Ferlay, J., Ward, E., & Forman, D. (2011). Global cancer statistics. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 61(2), 69-90. doi:10.3322/caac.20107Gao, F., Chia, K.-S., Ng, F.-C., Ng, E.-H., & Machin, D. (2002). Interval cancers following breast cancer screening in Singaporean women. International Journal of Cancer, 101(5), 475-479. doi:10.1002/ijc.10636Munir, K., Elahi, H., Ayub, A., Frezza, F., & Rizzi, A. (2019). Cancer Diagnosis Using Deep Learning: A Bibliographic Review. Cancers, 11(9), 1235. doi:10.3390/cancers11091235Nahid, A.-A., & Kong, Y. (2017). Involvement of Machine Learning for Breast Cancer Image Classification: A Survey. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, 2017, 1-29. doi:10.1155/2017/3781951Ramadan, S. Z. (2020). Methods Used in Computer-Aided Diagnosis for Breast Cancer Detection Using Mammograms: A Review. Journal of Healthcare Engineering, 2020, 1-21. doi:10.1155/2020/9162464CHAN, H.-P., DOI, K., VYBRONY, C. J., SCHMIDT, R. A., METZ, C. E., LAM, K. L., … MACMAHON, H. (1990). Improvement in Radiologists?? Detection of Clustered Microcalcifications on Mammograms. Investigative Radiology, 25(10), 1102-1110. doi:10.1097/00004424-199010000-00006Olsen, O., & Gøtzsche, P. C. (2001). Cochrane review on screening for breast cancer with mammography. The Lancet, 358(9290), 1340-1342. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)06449-2Mann, R. M., Kuhl, C. K., Kinkel, K., & Boetes, C. (2008). Breast MRI: guidelines from the European Society of Breast Imaging. European Radiology, 18(7), 1307-1318. doi:10.1007/s00330-008-0863-7Jalalian, A., Mashohor, S. B. T., Mahmud, H. R., Saripan, M. I. B., Ramli, A. R. B., & Karasfi, B. (2013). Computer-aided detection/diagnosis of breast cancer in mammography and ultrasound: a review. Clinical Imaging, 37(3), 420-426. doi:10.1016/j.clinimag.2012.09.024Sarno, A., Mettivier, G., & Russo, P. (2015). Dedicated breast computed tomography: Basic aspects. Medical Physics, 42(6Part1), 2786-2804. doi:10.1118/1.4919441Njor, S., Nyström, L., Moss, S., Paci, E., Broeders, M., Segnan, N., & Lynge, E. (2012). Breast Cancer Mortality in Mammographic Screening in Europe: A Review of Incidence-Based Mortality Studies. Journal of Medical Screening, 19(1_suppl), 33-41. doi:10.1258/jms.2012.012080Morrell, S., Taylor, R., Roder, D., & Dobson, A. (2012). Mammography screening and breast cancer mortality in Australia: an aggregate cohort study. Journal of Medical Screening, 19(1), 26-34. doi:10.1258/jms.2012.011127Marmot, M. G., Altman, D. G., Cameron, D. A., Dewar, J. A., Thompson, S. G., & Wilcox, M. (2013). The benefits and harms of breast cancer screening: an independent review. British Journal of Cancer, 108(11), 2205-2240. doi:10.1038/bjc.2013.177Pisano, E. D., Gatsonis, C., Hendrick, E., Yaffe, M., Baum, J. K., Acharyya, S., … Rebner, M. (2005). Diagnostic Performance of Digital versus Film Mammography for Breast-Cancer Screening. New England Journal of Medicine, 353(17), 1773-1783. doi:10.1056/nejmoa052911Carney, P. A., Miglioretti, D. L., Yankaskas, B. C., Kerlikowske, K., Rosenberg, R., Rutter, C. M., … Ballard-Barbash, R. (2003). Individual and Combined Effects of Age, Breast Density, and Hormone Replacement Therapy Use on the Accuracy of Screening Mammography. Annals of Internal Medicine, 138(3), 168. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-138-3-200302040-00008Woodard, D. B., Gelfand, A. E., Barlow, W. E., & Elmore, J. G. (2007). Performance assessment for radiologists interpreting screening mammography. Statistics in Medicine, 26(7), 1532-1551. doi:10.1002/sim.2633Cole, E. B., Pisano, E. D., Kistner, E. O., Muller, K. E., Brown, M. E., Feig, S. A., … Braeuning, M. P. (2003). Diagnostic Accuracy of Digital Mammography in Patients with Dense Breasts Who Underwent Problem-solving Mammography: Effects of Image Processing and Lesion Type. Radiology, 226(1), 153-160. doi:10.1148/radiol.2261012024Boyd, N. F., Guo, H., Martin, L. J., Sun, L., Stone, J., Fishell, E., … Yaffe, M. J. (2007). Mammographic Density and the Risk and Detection of Breast Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 356(3), 227-236. doi:10.1056/nejmoa062790Bird, R. E., Wallace, T. W., & Yankaskas, B. C. (1992). Analysis of cancers missed at screening mammography. Radiology, 184(3), 613-617. doi:10.1148/radiology.184.3.1509041Kerlikowske, K. (2000). 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A review of computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer: Toward the detection of subtle signs. Journal of the Franklin Institute, 344(3-4), 312-348. doi:10.1016/j.jfranklin.2006.09.003Vyborny, C. J., Giger, M. L., & Nishikawa, R. M. (2000). COMPUTER-AIDED DETECTION AND DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST CANCER. Radiologic Clinics of North America, 38(4), 725-740. doi:10.1016/s0033-8389(05)70197-4Giger, M. L. (2018). Machine Learning in Medical Imaging. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 15(3), 512-520. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2017.12.028Xu, Y., Wang, Y., Yuan, J., Cheng, Q., Wang, X., & Carson, P. L. (2019). Medical breast ultrasound image segmentation by machine learning. Ultrasonics, 91, 1-9. doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2018.07.006Shan, J., Alam, S. K., Garra, B., Zhang, Y., & Ahmed, T. (2016). Computer-Aided Diagnosis for Breast Ultrasound Using Computerized BI-RADS Features and Machine Learning Methods. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 42(4), 980-988. doi:10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2015.11.016Zhang, Q., Xiao, Y., Dai, W., Suo, J., Wang, C., Shi, J., & Zheng, H. (2016). Deep learning based classification of breast tumors with shear-wave elastography. Ultrasonics, 72, 150-157. doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2016.08.004Cheng, J.-Z., Ni, D., Chou, Y.-H., Qin, J., Tiu, C.-M., Chang, Y.-C., … Chen, C.-M. (2016). Computer-Aided Diagnosis with Deep Learning Architecture: Applications to Breast Lesions in US Images and Pulmonary Nodules in CT Scans. Scientific Reports, 6(1). doi:10.1038/srep24454Shin, S. Y., Lee, S., Yun, I. D., Kim, S. M., & Lee, K. M. (2019). Joint Weakly and Semi-Supervised Deep Learning for Localization and Classification of Masses in Breast Ultrasound Images. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 38(3), 762-774. doi:10.1109/tmi.2018.2872031Wang, J., Ding, H., Bidgoli, F. A., Zhou, B., Iribarren, C., Molloi, S., & Baldi, P. (2017). Detecting Cardiovascular Disease from Mammograms With Deep Learning. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 36(5), 1172-1181. doi:10.1109/tmi.2017.2655486Kooi, T., Litjens, G., van Ginneken, B., Gubern-Mérida, A., Sánchez, C. I., Mann, R., … Karssemeijer, N. (2017). Large scale deep learning for computer aided detection of mammographic lesions. Medical Image Analysis, 35, 303-312. doi:10.1016/j.media.2016.07.007Debelee, T. G., Schwenker, F., Ibenthal, A., & Yohannes, D. (2019). Survey of deep learning in breast cancer image analysis. Evolving Systems, 11(1), 143-163. doi:10.1007/s12530-019-09297-2Keen, J. D., Keen, J. M., & Keen, J. E. (2018). Utilization of Computer-Aided Detection for Digital Screening Mammography in the United States, 2008 to 2016. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 15(1), 44-48. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2017.08.033Henriksen, E. L., Carlsen, J. F., Vejborg, I. M., Nielsen, M. B., & Lauridsen, C. A. (2018). The efficacy of using computer-aided detection (CAD) for detection of breast cancer in mammography screening: a systematic review. Acta Radiologica, 60(1), 13-18. doi:10.1177/0284185118770917Gao, Y., Geras, K. J., Lewin, A. A., & Moy, L. (2019). New Frontiers: An Update on Computer-Aided Diagnosis for Breast Imaging in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. American Journal of Roentgenology, 212(2), 300-307. doi:10.2214/ajr.18.20392Pacilè, S., Lopez, J., Chone, P., Bertinotti, T., Grouin, J. M., & Fillard, P. (2020). Improving Breast Cancer Detection Accuracy of Mammography with the Concurrent Use of an Artificial Intelligence Tool. Radiology: Artificial Intelligence, 2(6), e190208. doi:10.1148/ryai.2020190208Huynh, B. Q., Li, H., & Giger, M. L. (2016). Digital mammographic tumor classification using transfer learning from deep convolutional neural networks. Journal of Medical Imaging, 3(3), 034501. doi:10.1117/1.jmi.3.3.034501Yap, M. H., Pons, G., Marti, J., Ganau, S., Sentis, M., Zwiggelaar, R., … Marti, R. (2018). Automated Breast Ultrasound Lesions Detection Using Convolutional Neural Networks. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 22(4), 1218-1226. doi:10.1109/jbhi.2017.2731873Moon, W. K., Lee, Y.-W., Ke, H.-H., Lee, S. H., Huang, C.-S., & Chang, R.-F. (2020). Computer‐aided diagnosis of breast ultrasound images using ensemble learning from convolutional neural networks. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 190, 105361. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2020.105361LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015). Deep learning. Nature, 521(7553), 436-444. doi:10.1038/nature14539Miotto, R., Wang, F., Wang, S., Jiang, X., & Dudley, J. T. (2017). Deep learning for healthcare: review, opportunities and challenges. Briefings in Bioinformatics, 19(6), 1236-1246. doi:10.1093/bib/bbx044Shin, H.-C., Roth, H. R., Gao, M., Lu, L., Xu, Z., Nogues, I., … Summers, R. M. (2016). Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Computer-Aided Detection: CNN Architectures, Dataset Characteristics and Transfer Learning. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 35(5), 1285-1298. doi:10.1109/tmi.2016.2528162Lee, J.-G., Jun, S., Cho, Y.-W., Lee, H., Kim, G. B., Seo, J. B., & Kim, N. (2017). Deep Learning in Medical Imaging: General Overview. Korean Journal of Radiology, 18(4), 570. doi:10.3348/kjr.2017.18.4.570Suzuki, K. (2017). Overview of deep learning in medical imaging. Radiological Physics and Technology, 10(3), 257-273. doi:10.1007/s12194-017-0406-5Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2010). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. International Journal of Surgery, 8(5), 336-341. doi:10.1016/j.ijsu.2010.02.007Khan, K. S., Kunz, R., Kleijnen, J., & Antes, G. (2003). Five Steps to Conducting a Systematic Review. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 96(3), 118-121. doi:10.1177/014107680309600304Han, S., Kang, H.-K., Jeong, J.-Y., Park, M.-H., Kim, W., Bang, W.-C., & Seong, Y.-K. (2017). A deep learning framework for supporting the classification of breast lesions in ultrasound images. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 62(19), 7714-7728. doi:10.1088/1361-6560/aa82ecMoreira, I. C., Amaral, I., Domingues, I., Cardoso, A., Cardoso, M. J., & Cardoso, J. S. (2012). INbreast. Academic Radiology, 19(2), 236-248. doi:10.1016/j.acra.2011.09.014Abdelhafiz, D., Yang, C., Ammar, R., & Nabavi, S. (2019). Deep convolutional neural networks for mammography: advances, challenges and applications. BMC Bioinformatics, 20(S11). doi:10.1186/s12859-019-2823-4Byra, M., Jarosik, P., Szubert, A., Galperin, M., Ojeda-Fournier, H., Olson, L., … Andre, M. (2020). Breast mass segmentation in ultrasound with selective kernel U-Net convolutional neural network. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 61, 102027. doi:10.1016/j.bspc.2020.102027Jiao, Z., Gao, X., Wang, Y., & Li, J. (2016). A deep feature based framework for breast masses classification. Neurocomputing, 197, 221-231. doi:10.1016/j.neucom.2016.02.060Arevalo, J., González, F. A., Ramos-Pollán, R., Oliveira, J. L., & Guevara Lopez, M. A. (2016). Representation learning for mammography mass lesion classification with convolutional neural networks. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 127, 248-257. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2015.12.014Peng, W., Mayorga, R. V., & Hussein, E. M. A. (2016). An automated confirmatory system for analysis of mammograms. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 125, 134-144. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2015.09.019Al-Dhabyani, W., Gomaa, M., Khaled, H., & Fahmy, A. (2020). Dataset of breast ultrasound images. Data in Brief, 28, 104863. doi:10.1016/j.dib.2019.104863Piotrzkowska-Wróblewska, H., Dobruch-Sobczak, K., Byra, M., & Nowicki, A. (2017). Open access database of raw ultrasonic signals acquired from malignant and benign breast lesions. Medical Physics, 44(11), 6105-6109. doi:10.1002/mp.12538Fujita, H. (2020). AI-based computer-aided diagnosis (AI-CAD): the latest review to read first. Radiological Physics and Technology, 13(1), 6-19. doi:10.1007/s12194-019-00552-4Sengupta, S., Singh, A., Leopold, H. A., Gulati, T., & Lakshminarayanan, V. (2020). Ophthalmic diagnosis using deep learning with fundus images – A critical review. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 102, 101758. doi:10.1016/j.artmed.2019.101758Ganesan, K., Acharya, U. R., Chua, K. C., Min, L. C., & Abraham, K. T. (2013). Pectoral muscle segmentation: A review. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 110(1), 48-57. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2012.10.020Huang, Q., Luo, Y., & Zhang, Q. (2017). Breast ultrasound image segmentation: a survey. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 12(3), 493-507. doi:10.1007/s11548-016-1513-1Noble, J. 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Diagnosis of breast tumors with sonographic texture analysis using wavelet transform and neural networks. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 28(10), 1301-1310. doi:10.1016/s0301-5629(02)00620-8Cheng, H. D., Shan, J., Ju, W., Guo, Y., & Zhang, L. (2010). Automated breast cancer detection and classification using ultrasound images: A survey. Pattern Recognition, 43(1), 299-317. doi:10.1016/j.patcog.2009.05.012Chan, H.-P., Wei, D., Helvie, M. A., Sahiner, B., Adler, D. D., Goodsitt, M. M., & Petrick, N. (1995). Computer-aided classification of mammographic masses and normal tissue: linear discriminant analysis in texture feature space. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 40(5), 857-876. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/40/5/010Tanaka, T., Torii, S., Kabuta, I., Shimizu, K., & Tanaka, M. (2007). Pattern Classification of Nevus with Texture Analysis. IEEJ Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 3(1), 143-150. doi:10.1002/tee.20246Singh, B., Jain, V. K., & Singh, S. (2014). Mammogram Mass Classification Using Support Vector Machine with Texture, Shape Features and Hierarchical Centroid Method. Journal of Medical Imaging and Health Informatics, 4(5), 687-696. doi:10.1166/jmihi.2014.1312Pal, N. R., Bhowmick, B., Patel, S. K., Pal, S., & Das, J. (2008). A multi-stage neural network aided system for detection of microcalcifications in digitized mammograms. Neurocomputing, 71(13-15), 2625-2634. doi:10.1016/j.neucom.2007.06.015Ayer, T., Chen, Q., & Burnside, E. S. (2013). Artificial Neural Networks in Mammography Interpretation and Diagnostic Decision Making. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, 2013, 1-10. doi:10.1155/2013/832509Sumbaly, R., Vishnusri, N., & Jeyalatha, S. (2014). Diagnosis of Breast Cancer using Decision Tree Data Mining Technique. International Journal of Computer Applications, 98(10), 16-24. doi:10.5120/17219-7456Landwehr, N., Hall, M., & Frank, E. (2005). Logistic Model Trees. Machine Learning, 59(1-2), 161-205. doi:10.1007/s10994-005-0466-3Abdel-Zaher, A. M., & Eldeib, A. M. (2016). Breast cancer classification using deep belief networks. Expert Systems with Applications, 46, 139-144. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2015.10.015Nishikawa, R. M., Giger, M. L., Doi, K., Metz, C. E., Yin, F.-F., Vyborny, C. J., & Schmidt, R. A. (1994). Effect of case selection on the performance of computer-aided detection schemes. Medical Physics, 21(2), 265-269. doi:10.1118/1.597287Guo, R., Lu, G., Qin, B., & Fei, B. (2018). Ultrasound Imaging Technologies for Breast Cancer Detection and Management: A Review. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 44(1), 37-70. doi:10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.09.012Kang, C.-C., Wang, W.-J., & Kang, C.-H. (2012). Image segmentation with complicated background by using seeded region growing. AEU - International Journal of Electronics and Communications, 66(9), 767-771. doi:10.1016/j.aeue.2012.01.011Prabusankarlal, K. M., Thirumoorthy, P., & Manavalan, R. 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Visual Saliency Estimation and Its Applications

The human visual system can automatically emphasize some parts of the image and ignore the other parts when seeing an image or a scene. Visual Saliency Estimation (VSE) aims to imitate this functionality of the human visual system to estimate the degree of human attention attracted by different image regions and locate the salient object. The study of VSE will help us explore the way human visual systems extract objects from an image. It has wide applications, such as robot navigation, video surveillance, object tracking, self-driving, etc. The current VSE approaches on natural images models generic visual stimuli based on lower-level image features, e.g., locations, local/global contrast, and feature correlation. However, existing models still suffered from some drawbacks. First, these methods fail in the cases when the objects are near the image borders. Second, due to imperfect model assumptions, many methods cannot achieve good results when the images have complicated backgrounds. In this work, I focuses on solving these challenges on the natural images by proposing a new framework with more robust task-related priors, and I apply the framework to low-quality biomedical images. The new framework formulates VSE on natural images as a quadratic program (QP) problem. It proposes an adaptive center-based bias hypothesis to replace the most common image center-based center-bias, which is much more robust even when the objects are far away from the image center. Second, it models a new smoothness term to force similar color having similar saliency statistics, which is more robust than that based on region dissimilarity when the image has a complicated background or low contrast. The new approach achieves the best performance among 11 latest methods on three public datasets. Three approaches based on the framework by integrating both high-level domain-knowledge and robust low-level saliency assumptions are utilized to imitate the radiologists\u27 attention to detect breast tumors from breast ultrasound images