Research Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics

Assistant Professor of Radiology

Contact Info:

Research Interests

• Visual perception
• Visual information acquisition
• Symbolic (cognitive) and non-symbolic (perceptual) processing
• Human- and computer- decision making strategies
• Human-computer interactions
• Intelligent tutoring systems

Education

Graduate:

Dates Attended: 1994-2001
Name and Location of Institution: Rutgers University
and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,
New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Degrees Received and Year: PhD, 2001
Major Subject: Biomedical Engineering

Dates Attended: 1989-1991
Name and Location of Institution: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Degree Received and Year: M.SEE. 1991
Major Subject: Electrical Engineering

Publications

Journal Papers

Kundel HL, Nodine CF, Krupinski EA, Mello-Thoms C. Using gaze-tracking data and mixture distribution analysis to support a holistic model for the detection of cancers on mammograms. Academic Radiology 2008; 15:881-886. PMID:18572124

Zheng B, Mello-Thoms C, Wang XH, Abrams GS, et al. Interactive computer-aided diagnosis of breast cancer: computerized selection of visually similar image sets from a reference library. Academic Radiology 2007; 14:917-927. PMCID:PMC2043128

Chakraborty D, Yoon H-J, Mello-Thoms C. Spatial localization accuracy of radiologists in free-response studies: inferring perceptual FROC curves from mark-rating data. Academic Radiology 2007; 14:4-18. PMCID:PMC1829298

Locher P, Krupinski E, Mello-Thoms C, Nodine CF. Visual interest in pictorial art during an aesthetic episode. Spatial Vision 2007; 21:55-77. PMID:18073051

Mello-Thoms C. The problem of image interpretation in mammography: effects of lesion conspicuity on the visual search strategy of radiologists. British Journal of Radiology 2006; 79:S111-S116. PMID:17209115

Gur D, Klym AH, King JL, Maitz GS, Mello-Thoms C, et al. The effect of image display size on observer performance - an assessment of variance components. Academic Radiology 2006; 13:409-413. PMID:16554219

Mello-Thoms C. How does the perception of a lesion influence visual search strategy in mammogram reading? Academic Radiology 2006; 13:275-288. PMID:16488839

Mello-Thoms C, Britton C, Abrams G, Hakim C, et al. Head-mounted vs. remote eye-tracking of radiologists searching for breast masses: A comparison. Academic Radiology 2006; 13:203-209. PMID:16428056

Mello-Thoms C, Hardesty L, Sumkin JL, Ganott MA, et al. Effects of lesion conspicuity on visual search in mammogram reading. Academic Radiology 2005; 12:830-840. PMID:16039537

Mello-Thoms C, Chapman BE. A preliminary report on the role of spatial frequency analysis in the perception of breast cancers missed at mammography screening. Academic Radiology 2004;11:894-908. PMID:15288040

Chapman BE, Parker DL, Stapelton JO, Mello-Thoms C, et al. Diagnostic fidelity of the z-buffer segmentation algorithm: preliminary assessment based on intracranial aneurysm detection. Journal of Biomedical Informatics 2004; 37:19-29. PMID:15016383

Mello-Thoms C. The perception of breast cancer: an eye position analysis of mammogram interpretation. Academic Radiology 2003; 10:4-12. PMID:12529023

Mello-Thoms C, Dunn SM, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. The perception of breast cancer: a spatial frequency analysis of what differentiates missed from reported cancers. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging 2003; 22:1297-1306. PMID:14552583

Nodine CF, Mello-Thoms C, Kundel HL, Weinstein SP. The time course of perception and decision making during mammographic interpretation. AJR 2002; 179:917-923. PMID:12239037

Mello-Thoms C, Dunn SM, Nodine CF, Kundel HL, et al. The perception of breast cancer: what differentiates missed from reported cancers in mammography? Academic Radiology 2002; 9:1004-1012. PMID:12238541

Mello-Thoms C, Dunn SM, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. An analysis of perceptual errors in reading mammograms using quasi-local spatial frequency analysis. Journal of Digital Imaging 2001; 14:117-123. PMID:11720333

Nodine CF, Mello-Thoms C, Weinstein SP, Kundel HL, et al. Blinded review of retrospectively visible unreported breast cancers: an eye position analysis. Radiology 2001; 221:122-129. PMID:11568329

Nodine CF, Kundel HL, Mello-Thoms C, Conant EF, et al. How experience and training influence mammography expertise. Academic Radiology 1999; 6:575-585. PMID:10516859

Mello-Thoms C, Dunn SM.A study of four-layered neural networks. Optical Engineering 1998; 37:889-897.

Akay M, Mello-Thoms C. Time-frequency and time-scale methods. Journal of Smart Engineering 1997; 6:608-628.

Conference Proceedings:

Mello-Thoms C. The 'holistic grail': Possible implications of an initial mistake in the reading of digital mammograms. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment 2009 (accepted for publication).

Mello-Thoms C. How much agreement is there in the visual search strategy of experts reading mammograms? Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment 2008; 6917:691704-1 691704-9.

Mello-Thoms C. Remote vs. Head-mounted eye tracking: a comparison using radiologists reading mammograms. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment 2007; 6515:65150C-1 65150C-9.

Mello-Thoms C. Visual search characteristics in mammography: Malignant vs. benign breast masses. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment 2007; 6515:651509-1 651509-9.

Zheng B, Mello-Thoms C, Wang XH, Gur D. Improvement of visual similarity of similar breast masses selected by computer-aided diagnosis schemes. IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging 2007; 516-519.

Mello-Thoms C. Variability in the interpretation of mammograms: Do similar decisions entail similar visual sampling strategies? Proc SPIE Medical imaging:Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment 2006; 6146:6146R1-6146R8.

Mello-Thoms C, Hardesty L. How does lesion conspicuity affect visual search strategy in mammogram reading? Proc SPIE Medical Imaging:ImagePerception,Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment 2005; 5749:86-93.

Chapman B, Mello-Thoms C. Numerical simulations of spectral phase and spectral distance behavior as scalar descriptors of multispectral data. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Processing 2004; 5370:1914-1923.

Mello-Thoms C. What can spatial frequency analysis tell us about inter-observer variability in mammogram reading? Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception, Observer Performance, and Technology Assessment 2004; 5372:116-121.

Mello-Thoms C. A perceptual analysis of cancers missed in mammography screening. Proc SPIE: Image Perception, Observer Performance and Technology Assessment 2003; 5034:253-256.

Mello-Thoms C, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. What attracts the eye to the location of missed and reported breast cancers? Proc Eye Tracking Research Applications 2002; 1:111-118.

Mello-Thoms C, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. Relating image-based features to mammogram interpretation. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception and Performance 2002; 4686:80-83.

Nodine CF, Kundel HL, Mello-Thoms C, Weinstein SP. Role of computer-assisted visual search in mammographic interpretation. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception and Performance 2001; 4324:52-55.

Mello-Thoms C, Dunn SM, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. Using computer-assisted perception to determine the characteristics of missed and reported breast cancers. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception and Performance 2001; 4324:64-67.

Mello-Thoms C, Dunn SM, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. Image structure and perceptual errors in mammogram reading. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception and Performance 2000; 3981:170-173.

Mello-Thoms C, Nodine CF, Weinstein SP, Kundel HL, Toto L. An unobtrusive method for monitoring visual attention during mammogram reading. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception and Performance 2000; 3981:160-163.

Nodine CF, Mello-Thoms C, Weinstein S, Kundel HL, Toto L. Do subtle breast cancers attract visual attention? Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception and Performance 2000; 3981:156-159.

Mello-Thoms C, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. A chronometric analysis of mammography expertise. Proc SPIE Medical Imaging: Image Perception and Performance 1999; 3663:146-150.

Akay M, Mello-Thoms C. Wavelets for biomedical signal processing. Proc 19th International Conference of the IEEE/EMBS 1997; 2688-2692.

Souza RMC, Mello C. Arranjos bidimensionais de inteiros e a transformada discreta de Fourier. Anais do X Simposio Brasileiro de Telecomunicacoes 1992; 1:121-126 [in Portuguese].

Souza RMC, Mello C. Linear Diophantine equations, two-dimensional arrays and the discrete Fourier transform. Proc International Conference on Signal Processing 1990; 1:43-48.

Book chapters:

Mello-Thoms C, Ganott M, Sumkin J, Hakim C, Britton C, Wallace L. Different search strategies and similar decision outcomes: How can experts agree in the decisions they make when reading digital mammograms? In Digital Mammography 2008, Krupinski E (Editor), Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2008; pp 212-219.

Nodine CF, Mello-Thoms C. Acquiring expertise in radiological image interpretation. In The Handbook of Image Perception and Techniques, Samei E, Krupinski E, Jacobson F (Editors), Cambridge University Press 2008 (in press).

Mello-Thoms C, Nodine CF, Kundel HL. The problem of image interpretation in mammography: how do radiologists see what they think they see? In Digital Mammography, Peitgen H-O (Editor), Springer-Verlag 2003; pp557-561.

Nodine CF, Mello-Thoms C. The nature of expertise in Radiology. In Handbook of Medical Imaging, Volume 1: Progress in Medical Physics and Psychophysics, Beutel J, Kundel HL, Van Metter RL (Editors), SPIE Press 2000; pp 859-894.

Mello-Thoms C, Akay M. Recent advances in time-frequency and time-scale methods. In Time-Frequency and Wavelets in Biomedical Engineering, Akay M (Editor), IEEE Press 1998; pp 183-208.