Determination of pigment asymmetry in clinical images of skin tumors

“The incidence of malignant melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer has been rapidly rising. Melanoma tends to occur in adults in the prime of their lives. Detection and surgical treatment of the early stages of this malignancy are the most curative techniques. In contrast, diagnosis and treatment in late stages often have dismal results. Clinical photography is the most popular form for recording cases of malignant melanoma in America. This thesis deals with the identification and the determination of an index for the asymmetric occurrence of dark pigmented regions in clinical images of skin tumors. Encouraging results have been obtained applying this index to the detection of malignant melanoma”--Abstract, page iii