Automation of Detection of Cervical Cancer Using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Abstract

Classification of digital cervical images acquired during visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) is an important step in automated image-based cervical cancer detection. Many algorithms have been developed for classification of cervical images based on extracting mathematical features and classifying these images. Deciding the suitability of a feature and learning the algorithm is a complex task. On the other hand, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) self-learn most suitable hierarchical features from the raw input image. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of using a shallow layer CNN for classification of image patches of cervical images as cancerous or not cancerous. We used cervix images acquired after the application of 3%-5% acetic acid using an Android device in 102 women. Of these, 42 cervix images belonged in the VIA-positive category (pathologic) and 60 in the VIA-negative category (healthy controls). A total of 275 image patches of 15 × 15 pixels were manually extracted from VIA-positive areas, and we considered these patches as positive examples. Similarly, 409 image patches were extracted from VIA-negative areas and were labeled as VIA negative. These image patches were classified using a shallow layer CNN composed of a layer each of convolutional, rectified linear unit, pooling, and two fully connected layers. A classification accuracy of 100% is achieved using shallow CNN.