Weaver Ant Colony Optimization-Based Neural Network Learning for Mammogram Classification

Neural Networks (NNs) have been efficaciously used for classification purposes in medical domains, including the classification of microcalcifications in digital mammograms. Unfortunately, for a NN to be effective in a particular purview, its architecture, training algorithm and the domain variables selected as inputs must be amply chosen. In this paper, a novel Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) based learning approach with a modified architecture is proposed to speed up the learning phase of a Backpropagation Neural Network (BPN) classifier. The novel ACO simulates the behavior of weaver ants, known for their unique nest building behavior where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk. The proposed Weaver Ant Colony Optimization (WACO) based Backpropagation Neural Network (WACO-BPN) is applied for classifying digital mammograms received from MIAS database. The performance is analyzed with Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve. The greater accuracy of 97% states the grander performance of the proposed neural network learning approach.