Some new algorithms and software implementation methods for pattern recognition research

This paper, in two parts, describes some novel algorithms for pattern recognition research and a framework for efficient development, maintenance, and sharing of interactive software amongst several users and diverse application areas. This modular interactive software system (MISS) forms the basis of a general purpose image analysis and pattern recognition research system (IPS) implemented in the Macdonald Stewart Biomedical Image Processing Laboratory at McGill University. The first part of the paper discusses the algorithms and some preliminary results. Two algorithms are singled out. The first is an interactive approach to nonparametric feature selection via two-dimensional mapping of the multidimensional minimal spanning tree of the features in pattern space. Some preliminary results of the performance of the algorithm, in the automatic mode, applied to feature selection for cervical cell classification, are presented. The second algorithm is an exact procedure for condensing the training data, in the nearest neighbor decision rule, which yields a minimal set of points that implements precisely the original nearest neighbor decision boundary. The second part of the paper describes the MISS and IPS software systems. The MISS software implementation framework insures software compatibility and sharing among many individuals and diverse applications, provides safeguard against software loss, and supports an extendable high level interactive language with on-line documentation. MISS language support includes a BASE LAN-GUAGE interpreter (implementing a variant of FORTRAN) plus an EXTENDED LANGUAGE interpreter that facilitates addition of new groups of language statements. Each group of statements is associated with a particular function, application area, or programmer. All IPS software has been implemented within the MISS framework. The present IPS implementation includes over 300 EXTENDED LANGUAGE statements in twenty groups facilitating such functions as: image acquisition and display, simulation of a hardware image processor, data management, image manipulation and filtering, graphics, image segmentation and feature extraction, feature selection, classification, and classification performance measurement. The overall design philosophy of the MISS and IPS software systems and the ease with which new software can be added and documented are described.