Multifractal analysis of dynamic infrared imaging of breast cancer

The wavelet transform modulus maxima (WTMM) method was used in a multifractal analysis of skin breast temperature time-series recorded using dynamic infrared (IR) thermography. Multifractal scaling was found for healthy breasts as the signature of a continuous change in the shape of the probability density function (pdf) of temperature fluctuations across time scales from similar to 0.3 to 3 s. In contrast, temperature time-series from breasts with malignant tumors showed homogeneous monofractal temperature fluctuations statistics. These results highlight dynamic IR imaging as a very valuable non-invasive technique for preliminary screening in asymptomatic women to identify those with risk of breast cancer. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2013