Ultrasound-based Classification of Fatty Liver Disease: A Review

Abstract

Hepatic steatosis synonymous with fatty liver is a disease that results from excess fat in the liver. It's normal to have small amounts of fat in the liver, but too much can drag into a health issue. It is such a disease, which may lead to loss of human life, if not cured at an early stage. To detect such a disease highly precise and reliable technique is required such as ultrasound imaging. Different CAD frameworks have been proposed, to categorize the images as normal and fatty liver ultrasound images. Classifying the images with the assistance of the CAD systems developed till date is not found to be up to the mark. The sensitivity and accuracy measurements values still need improvement. Although much research has been carried out in this area, it is the subject of great significance due to increasing prevalence of fatty liver across the globe. In therapeutic imaging and diagnostic radiology, CAD has ended up a standout amongst the most important research topic. It introduces the pattern recognition software that analyse suspicious features on the image and help the radiologists to solve the problem. Over the past years, booming research has been done on classifying liver ultrasound images. This paper presents the recent trends in Ultrasound-based classification of various liver diseases through Computer Aided Diagnosis systems and the current challenges and future directions to improve the diagnostic accuracy.