Application of the fuzzy ART/MAP and MinMax/MAP neural network models to radiographic image classification

This paper concerns the classification analysis of exercise-induced lower leg pain by applying competitive neural network clustering and mapping techniques to type 1 and type 2 fuzzy descriptions of bone scan images of the tibia. The clusters are described and compared with each other and with the experts known classes that would be expected from medical findings. The discovered clusters provide training sets for supervised learning by an ARTMAP and similar neural network. These were used to classify the previously unclassified images and hence improve the classification process. The overall conclusion is that the use of the neural clustering methods has improved the classification process of the shin images despite the paucity of data and its inherent uncertainty. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.