Lung nodule segmentation in chest computed tomography using a novel background estimation method

Lung cancer is currently considered one of the most common and dangerous types of cancer. According to World Health Organization, in 2012 lung cancer resulted in 1.59 million deaths worldwide and caused approximately two times more deaths than liver cancer, the second leading cause of death by cancer (1). Statistics indicate 0.87 as the overall ratio of mortality to incidence of lung cancer and relative lack of variability in survival in different world regions (1). However, the cancer mortality is reduced when cases can be detected and treated in early stages. For about 20 years, computed tomography (CT) examinations have been widely used for early detection of cancer (2)