Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning Approaches

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for early detection. While mammography is the gold standard, it faces cost and accessibility barriers in resource-limited areas. Infrared thermography is a promising cost-effective, non...

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Main Authors: Larry Ryan, Sos Agaian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Bioengineering
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/12/6/639
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author Larry Ryan
Sos Agaian
author_facet Larry Ryan
Sos Agaian
author_sort Larry Ryan
collection DOAJ
description Breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for early detection. While mammography is the gold standard, it faces cost and accessibility barriers in resource-limited areas. Infrared thermography is a promising cost-effective, non-invasive, painless, and radiation-free alternative that detects tumors by measuring their thermal signatures through thermal infrared radiation. However, challenges persist, including limited clinical validation, lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval as a primary screening tool, physiological variations among individuals, differing interpretation standards, and a shortage of specialized radiologists. This survey uniquely focuses on integrating texture analysis and machine learning within infrared thermography for breast cancer detection, addressing the existing literature gaps, and noting that this approach achieves high-ranking results. It comprehensively reviews the entire processing pipeline, from image preprocessing and feature extraction to classification and performance assessment. The survey critically analyzes the current limitations, including over-reliance on limited datasets like DMR-IR. By exploring recent advancements, this work aims to reduce radiologists’ workload, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and identify key future research directions in this evolving field.
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spelling doaj-art-bfd38d9b3ad041daa9304172eb7af9f92025-08-20T03:27:05ZengMDPI AGBioengineering2306-53542025-06-0112663910.3390/bioengineering12060639Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning ApproachesLarry Ryan0Sos Agaian1Department of Computer Science, Graduate Center, CUNY, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USADepartment of Computer Science, Graduate Center, CUNY, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USABreast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for early detection. While mammography is the gold standard, it faces cost and accessibility barriers in resource-limited areas. Infrared thermography is a promising cost-effective, non-invasive, painless, and radiation-free alternative that detects tumors by measuring their thermal signatures through thermal infrared radiation. However, challenges persist, including limited clinical validation, lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval as a primary screening tool, physiological variations among individuals, differing interpretation standards, and a shortage of specialized radiologists. This survey uniquely focuses on integrating texture analysis and machine learning within infrared thermography for breast cancer detection, addressing the existing literature gaps, and noting that this approach achieves high-ranking results. It comprehensively reviews the entire processing pipeline, from image preprocessing and feature extraction to classification and performance assessment. The survey critically analyzes the current limitations, including over-reliance on limited datasets like DMR-IR. By exploring recent advancements, this work aims to reduce radiologists’ workload, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and identify key future research directions in this evolving field.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/12/6/639thermographybreast cancertextureimage processingmedical image analysis
spellingShingle Larry Ryan
Sos Agaian
Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning Approaches
Bioengineering
thermography
breast cancer
texture
image processing
medical image analysis
title Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning Approaches
title_full Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning Approaches
title_fullStr Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning Approaches
title_full_unstemmed Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning Approaches
title_short Breast Cancer Detection Using Infrared Thermography: A Survey of Texture Analysis and Machine Learning Approaches
title_sort breast cancer detection using infrared thermography a survey of texture analysis and machine learning approaches
topic thermography
breast cancer
texture
image processing
medical image analysis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/12/6/639
work_keys_str_mv AT larryryan breastcancerdetectionusinginfraredthermographyasurveyoftextureanalysisandmachinelearningapproaches
AT sosagaian breastcancerdetectionusinginfraredthermographyasurveyoftextureanalysisandmachinelearningapproaches