Alan Penn & Associates, Inc. (APA, Inc.) develops diagnostic feature analysis methods and systems that meet the needs of the medical, commercial and industrial communities. The technology underlying APA, Inc. products is an improved method of characterizing the texture of image and signal data. Texture analysis is used in a variety of fields. An important texture characterization is "fractal dimension" or "fd." Standard fd algorithms are effective only when applied to large data sets; when applied to small data sets, such as small or coarsely digitized images, these methods are unreliable. The companyâs underlying technology is a method of obtaining reliable fd measurements of small data sets. Primary applications lie in the fields of MRI and mammography. The firm provides training solutions and computer decision support systems to improve the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. The technology underlying APA's products is an improved method of characterizing the texture of image and signal data. The technology is applicable to a variety of other medical applications in which it is necessary to discriminate growth patterns likely to lead to complications (e.g., coronary plaque), or are likely to lead to successful drug therapy (bacterial growth colonies). The technology is also applicable to non-medical applications, where there is a need for low-resolution, non-destructive imaging (e.g., industrial MRI), or analysis of small regions-of-interest (e.g., bonding or plating surface)
