Diagnosing skin melanoma: current versus future directions

A new database containing 410 cases of nevi pigmentosi, in four categories: benign nevus, blue nevus, suspicious nevus and melanoma malignant, carefully verified by histopathology, is described. The database is entirely different from the base presented previously, and can be readily used for research based on the so-called constructive induction in machine learning. To achieve this, the database features a different set of thirteen descriptive attributes, with a fourteenth additional attribute computed by applying values of the remaining thirteen attributes. In addition, a new program environment for the validation of computer-assisted diagnosis of melanoma, is briefly discussed. Finally, results are presented on determining optimal coefficients for the well-known ABCD formula, useful for melanoma diagnosis