M5L: A web-based Computer Aided Detection system for automated search of lung nodules in thoracic Computed Tomography scans

M5L, a Web-based fully automated Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) system for the automated detection of lung nodules in thoracic Computed Tomography (CT), is based on a multi-thread analysis with two independent CAD subsystems, the lung Channeler Ant Model (lungCAM) and the Voxel-Based Neural Analysis (VBNA), and on the combination of their results. The M5L performance, extensively validated on 1043 CT scans from 3 independent data-sets, including the full LIDC/IDRI database, is homogeneous across the databases: the sensitivity is about 0.8 at 6-8 False Positive findings per scan, despite the different annotation criteria and acquisition and reconstruction conditions. In order to make CAD algorithms and their results available to users without requiring the installation of CAD software or new hardware for CAD computations, the project has proposed a Cloud SaaS (Software as a Service) approach composed by three main building blocks: a front-end web which handles the workflow, image upload, CAD results notification and direct on-line annotation of the exam by the radiologist; the OpenNebula-based cloud Iaas (Infrastructure as a Service) batch farm allocates virtual computing and storage resources; the M5L CAD provides the nodule detection functionality.