The principal constituents of computational intelligence are fuzzy logic, n
eural networks and evolutionary algorithms, with emphasis in their mutual e
nhancement. The present paper reviews some applications of these formalisms
in the area of medical image processing, where advantage is taken from the
ability of fuzzy logic to work with imprecise information, the ability of
neural networks to learn a system's behavior from representative examples a
nd the ability of evolutionary algorithms to optimize complex systems, part
icularly when no mathematical model is available. The paper focuses mainly
on neural networks in medical image processing. A special kind of cellular
neural networks based on multiple valued threshold logic in the complex pla
ne will be presented and its efficacy for medical imaging will be documente
d. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.