Melanoma is a form of cancer that begins in melanocytes (cells that make the pigment melanin). It can affect the skin only, or it may spread to the organs and bones. It is less common, but more serious and aggressive than other types of skin cancer. Melanoma can be of benign or malignant. Malignant melanoma is the dangerous condition, while benign is not. In order to reduce the death rate due to malignant melanoma skin cancer, it is necessary to diagnose it at an early stage.
In this paper, a detection system has been designed for diagnosing melanoma in early stages by using digital image processing techniques. The system consists of two phases: the first phase detects whether the pigmented skin lesion is malignant or benign; the second phase recognizes malignant melanoma skin cancer types. Both first and second phases have several stages. The experimental results are acceptable.