Uterine
cervical cancer Computer-Aided-Diagnosis (CAD) according to this invention consists of a core
processing system that automatically analyses data acquired from the
uterine cervix and provides tissue and
patient diagnosis, as well as adequacy of the examination. The data can include, but is not limited to, color still images or video, reflectance and
fluorescence multi-spectral or hyper-spectral imagery, coherent
optical tomography imagery, and impedance measurements, taken with and without the use of contrast agents like 3-5%
acetic acid, Lugol's
iodine, or 5-aminolevulinic acid. The core
processing system is based on an open, modular, and feature-based architecture, designed for multi-data, multi-sensor, and multi-
feature fusion. The core
processing system can be embedded in different
CAD system realizations. For example: A
CAD system for
cervical cancer screening could in a very simple version consist of a hand-held device that only acquires one digital
RGB image of the
uterine cervix after application of 3-5%
acetic acid and provides automatically a
patient diagnosis. A
CAD system used as a colposcopy adjunct could provide all functions that are related to colposcopy and that can be provided by a computer, from
automation of the clinical
workflow to automated
patient diagnosis and treatment recommendation.