ABSTRACT
A medical image dataset is the starting point for important epidemiological and statistical studies. In fact, it can be used to develop and test algorithms for computer-aided detection (CAD) systems, as the development of a CAD system is strictly related to the collection of a large dataset of selected images, for teaching and training medical students or as an archive of rare cases. The task of obtaining the data for a retrospective CAD performance evaluation at a mammography center may be time consuming and expensive to achieve. Mammographic databases should take into consideration five fundamental requirements: case selection, ground truth, requirements of the digitizers, organization of the database, and distribution of the database. The Digital Database for Screening Mammography (DDSM) is a database of digitized filmscreen mammograms with associated ground truth and other information. The DDSM contains mammograms obtained from the Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of South Florida and Sandia National Laboratories.
