Medical Imaging Research Articles

Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis Lesion using Deep Learning Models

Exploring the identification of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) lesions involves leveraging diverse machine learning classifiers. Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans, the study aims to detect and characterize these lesions, evaluating their attributes, progression stages, and the pivotal role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in diagnosis. The focus is on analyzing automated detection algorithms, particularly Deep Learning techniques. Through comprehensive assessment, various classifiers including MLP Classifier, Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and DL are evaluated using metrics like precision, recall, F1-score, and accuracy. The DL classifier stands out, achieving remarkable precision (99%), recall (99%), and overall accuracy (99.5%). Comparative analysis confirms its superiority, reinforcing its efficacy over alternative methods. The research underscores the DL model's potential in generalizing to new samples due to its robustness and precision. This study significantly advances automated MS lesion detection, highlighting the promise of AI-based methodologies in medical image analysis.

Pure large kernel convolutional neural network transformer for medical image registration

Deformable medical image registration is a fundamental and critical task in medical image analysis. Recently, deep learning-based methods have rapidly developed and have shown impressive results in deformable image registration. However, existing approaches still suffer from limitations in registration accuracy or generalization performance. To address these challenges, in this paper, we propose a pure convolutional neural network module (CVTF) to implement hierarchical transformers and enhance the registration performance of medical images. CVTF has a larger convolutional kernel, providing a larger global effective receptive field, which can improve the network’s ability to capture long-range dependencies. In addition, we introduce the spatial interaction attention (SIA) module to compute the interrelationship between the target feature pixel points and all other points in the feature map. This helps to improve the semantic understanding of the model by emphasizing important features and suppressing irrelevant ones. Based on the proposed CVTF and SIA, we construct a novel registration framework named PCTNet. We applied PCTNet to generate displacement fields and register medical images, and we conducted extensive experiments and validation on two public datasets, OASIS and LPBA40. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and generality of our method, showing significant improvements in registration accuracy and generalization performance compared to existing methods. Our code has been available at https://github.com/fz852/PCTNet.

A review of deep learning and Generative Adversarial Networks applications in medical image analysis

Nowadays, computer-aided decision support systems (CADs) for the analysis of images have been a perennial technique in the medical imaging field. In CADs, deep learning algorithms are widely used to perform tasks like classification, identification of patterns, detection, etc. Deep learning models learn feature representations from images rather than handcrafted features. Hence, deep learning models are quickly becoming the state-of-the-art method to achieve good performances in different computer-aided decision-support systems in medical applications. Similarly, deep learning-based generative models called Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have recently been developed as a novel method to produce realistic-looking synthetic data. GANs are used in different domains, including medical imaging generation. The common problems, like class imbalance and a small dataset, in healthcare are well addressed by GANs, and it is a leading area of research. Segmentation, reconstruction, detection, denoising, registration, etc. are the important applications of GANs. So in this work, the successes of deep learning methods in segmentation, classification, cell structure and fracture detection, computer-aided identification, and GANs in synthetic medical image generation, segmentation, reconstruction, detection, denoising, and registration in recent times are reviewed. Lately, the review article concludes by raising research directions for DL models and GANs in medical applications.

Advancements in AI-driven diagnostic radiology: Enhancing accuracy and efficiency

Background: Healthcare delivery has transformed significantly with the integration of clinical decision support systems (CDS) and medical imaging. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs), a type of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, have exhibited remarkable accuracy in discerning intricate patterns and anomalies within medical images, surpassing human capability. Aim: This study aims to explore the impact of AI augmentation on diagnostic tasks, focusing on enhancing sensitivity, accuracy, and interrater agreement across various medical conditions. Additionally, it seeks to investigate how AI simplifies complex processes and integrates with existing technologies, extending its role in CDS systems beyond diagnostic accuracy. Methods: The research examines the effectiveness of AI in interpreting CT imaging and diagnosis. Furthermore, it assesses the integration of AI with radiology to enhance the detection of cerebral hemorrhages on head CT scans in time-pressed clinical settings. The research was performed using search engines such as google scholar and Pubmed. Results: The findings indicate that AI augmentation significantly enhances diagnostic capabilities, improves physician confidence, reduces interpretation time, and optimizes workflow efficiency. AI not only improves accuracy but also simplifies processes, thereby revolutionizing healthcare delivery. Conclusion: As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, its revolutionary potential in healthcare becomes increasingly evident.

Skin Cancer Segmentation using CNN

This groundbreaking research introduces a comprehensive strategy for advancing medical image segmentation, merging two pivotal concepts to significantly enhance both the accuracy and efficiency of the segmentation process. The first component of our approach involves the integration of polar transformations as a preprocessing step applied to the original dataset. This transformative technique is designed to address the challenges associated with segmenting single structures of elliptical shape in medical images, such as organs (e.g., heart and kidneys), skin lesions, polyps, and various abnormalities. By centering the polar transformation on the object's focal point, a reduction in dimensionality is achieved, coupled with a distinct separation of segmentation and localization tasks. Two distinct methodologies for selecting an optimal polar origin are proposed: one involving estimation through a segmentation neural network trained on non-polar images, and the other employing a dedicated neural network trained to pre dict the optimal origin. The second key element of our approach is around the integration of the DoubleU-Net architecture, a powerful encoder-decoder model specifically designed for the task of semantic image segmentation. DoubleU- Net is a group of two U-Net architectures, each with a specific purpose. The initial U-Net is pre-trained on VGG-19 as the encoder and uses features learned from ImageNet to provide efficient information transfer. In order to store more semantic information and content, a second U-Net was added to the base to enhance the capabilities of the network. Join Atrous Spatial Pyramid Pooling (ASPP) to develop network data extraction content. The combination of DoubleU-Net architecture and joint transformation as a step forward shows good segmentation performance in different clinical tasks, including liver segmentation, polyp detection vision, skin segmentation, and epicardial fat tissue segmentation. It shows that various medical projects, including various diagnostic methods such as colonoscopy, dermoscopy, microscopy, have a positive impact on the plan. More importantly, the method performs well in difficult cases, such as the segmentation of small and flat polyps in CVC-ClinicDB and the 2015 subset of the MICCAI Automated Polyp Detection dataset. The results demonstrate the accuracy and generality of the combination, making it the best way to evaluate medical images in context; Our study has revealed a new method of skin cancer diagnosis that combines the power of deep learning with innovation. Advanced technology. The combination of dual U-Net architecture and polar coordinate transformation not only improves the accuracy of classification of lesions but also improves the robustness of the model to changes in image features. This study contributes to the development of computer-aided diagnostic systems for early diagnosis. Experimental results show that our method provides good accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in detecting malignant and benign tumors. Additionally, we are conducting ablation studies to determine the contribution of each presentation and treatment of skin cancer to ultimately benefit patients and determine these benefits. We also apply the transformation of the joint as the first step to improve the discrimination ability of the model. This mechanical change effectively reduces the impact caused by changes in wound size, shape, and direction by displaying the original image of the polar system. By standardizing the representation of skin diseases, polar transformation improves the model's ability to generalize across different data sets and improves overall performance.

Comparing the Diagnostic Performance of GPT-4-based ChatGPT, GPT-4V-based ChatGPT, and Radiologists in Challenging Neuroradiology Cases.

To compare the diagnostic performance among Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT)-4-based ChatGPT, GPT‑4 with vision (GPT-4V) based ChatGPT, and radiologists in challenging neuroradiology cases. We collected 32consecutive "Freiburg Neuropathology Case Conference" cases from the journal Clinical Neuroradiology between March 2016 and December 2023. We input the medical history and imaging findings into GPT-4-based ChatGPT and the medical history and images into GPT-4V-based ChatGPT, then both generated adiagnosis for each case. Six radiologists (three radiology residents and three board-certified radiologists) independently reviewed all cases and provided diagnoses. ChatGPT and radiologists' diagnostic accuracy rates were evaluated based on the published ground truth. Chi-square tests were performed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of GPT-4-based ChatGPT, GPT-4V-based ChatGPT, and radiologists. GPT‑4 and GPT-4V-based ChatGPTs achieved accuracy rates of 22% (7/32) and 16% (5/32), respectively. Radiologists achieved the following accuracy rates: three radiology residents 28% (9/32), 31% (10/32), and 28% (9/32); and three board-certified radiologists 38% (12/32), 47% (15/32), and 44% (14/32). GPT-4-based ChatGPT's diagnostic accuracy was lower than each radiologist, although not significantly (all p > 0.07). GPT-4V-based ChatGPT's diagnostic accuracy was also lower than each radiologist and significantly lower than two board-certified radiologists (p = 0.02 and 0.03) (not significant for radiology residents and one board-certified radiologist [all p > 0.09]). While GPT-4-based ChatGPT demonstrated relatively higher diagnostic performance than GPT-4V-based ChatGPT, the diagnostic performance of GPT‑4 and GPT-4V-based ChatGPTs did not reach the performance level of either radiology residents or board-certified radiologists in challenging neuroradiology cases.

Patient-specific cerebral 3D vessel model reconstruction using deep learning.

Three-dimensional vessel model reconstruction from patient-specific magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) images often requires some manual maneuvers. This study aimed to establish the deep learning (DL)-based method for vessel model reconstruction. Time of flight MRA of 40 patients with internal carotid artery aneurysms was prepared, and three-dimensional vessel models were constructed using the threshold and region-growing method. Using those datasets, supervised deep learning using 2D U-net was performed to reconstruct 3D vessel models. The accuracy of the DL-based vessel segmentations was assessed using 20 MRA images outside the training dataset. The dice coefficient was used as the indicator of the model accuracy, and the blood flow simulation was performed using the DL-based vessel model. The created DL model could successfully reconstruct a three-dimensional model in all 60 cases. The dice coefficient in the test dataset was 0.859. Of note, the DL-generated model proved its efficacy even for large aneurysms (> 10mm in their diameter). The reconstructed model was feasible in performing blood flow simulation to assist clinical decision-making. Our DL-based method could successfully reconstruct a three-dimensional vessel model with moderate accuracy. Future studies are warranted to exhibit that DL-based technology can promote medical image processing.

DistilIQA: Distilling Vision Transformers for no-reference perceptual CT image quality assessment

No-reference image quality assessment (IQA) is a critical step in medical image analysis, with the objective of predicting perceptual image quality without the need for a pristine reference image. The application of no-reference IQA to CT scans is valuable in providing an automated and objective approach to assessing scan quality, optimizing radiation dose, and improving overall healthcare efficiency. In this paper, we introduce DistilIQA, a novel distilled Vision Transformer network designed for no-reference CT image quality assessment. DistilIQA integrates convolutional operations and multi-head self-attention mechanisms by incorporating a powerful convolutional stem at the beginning of the traditional ViT network. Additionally, we present a two-step distillation methodology aimed at improving network performance and efficiency. In the initial step, a ”teacher ensemble network” is constructed by training five vision Transformer networks using a five-fold division schema. In the second step, a ”student network”, comprising of a single Vision Transformer, is trained using the original labeled dataset and the predictions generated by the teacher network as new labels. DistilIQA is evaluated in the task of quality score prediction from low-dose chest CT scans obtained from the LDCT and Projection data of the Cancer Imaging Archive, along with low-dose abdominal CT images from the LDCTIQAC2023 Grand Challenge. Our results demonstrate DistilIQA‘s remarkable performance in both benchmarks, surpassing the capabilities of various CNNs and Transformer architectures. Moreover, our comprehensive experimental analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of incorporating convolutional operations within the ViT architecture and highlights the advantages of our distillation methodology.

Complex wavelet transform with progressive network for medical imaging super resolution

complex wavelet transform with progressive network for medical imaging super resolution

Precancerous Change Detection Technique on Mammography Breast Cancer Images based on Mean Ratio and Log Ratio using Fuzzy c Mean Classification with Gabor Filter.

The growing rate of breast cancer necessitates immediate global attention. Mammography images are used to determine the stage of malignancy. Breast cancer stages must be identified in order to save a person's life. This article's main goal is to identify different techniques to obtain the difference between two breast cancer mammography images taken of the same individual at different times. This is the first effort to identify breast cancer in mammography images using change detection techniques. The Mammogram Image Change Detection (ICD) technique is also a recent advancement to prevent breast cancer in the early stage and precancerous level in medical images. The main purpose of this work is to observe the changes between breast cancer images in different screening periods using different techniques. Mammogram Breast Cancer Image Change Detection (MBCICD) methods usually start with a Difference Image (DI) and classify the pixels in the DI into changed and unaffected classes using unsupervised fuzzy c means (FCM) clustering methods based on texture features taken from the log and mean ratio difference pictures. Two operators, mean ratio and log ratio, were used to check the changes in the images. The Gabor wavelet is utilized as a feature extraction technique among several standards. Using the Gabor wavelet ratio operators is a useful method for altering the detection of breast cancer in mammography images. Currently, it is challenging to obtain real malignant images of the same person for testing or training. In this study, two images are utilized. To clearly see the changes, one is an image from the MIAS breast cancer mammography images dataset, and the other is a self-generated change image. The research aims to examine the image results and other quantitative analysis results of proposed change detection methods on cancer images. The Mean Ratio Accuracy result is 0.9738, and the Log ratio PCC is 0.9737. The classification results are the Log Ratio + Gabor Filter + FCM is 0.9737, and Mean Ratio +Gabor Filter + FCM is 0.9719. The mean Ratio Accuracy result is 0.9738, Log ratio is 0.9737. Log Ratio + Gabor Filter + FCM is 0.9737, Mean Ratio +Gabor Filter + FCM is 0.9719. Comparing the PCC of proposed change detection methods with the FDA-RMG method on the same dataset, the accuracy is 0.9481 only. The study concludes that variations in mammography breast cancer images could be successfully identified using the ratio operators with Gabor wavelet features.

Enhanced cervical precancerous lesions detection and classification using Archimedes Optimization Algorithm with transfer learning.

Cervical cancer (CC) ranks as the fourth most common form of cancer affecting women, manifesting in the cervix. CC is caused by the Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and is eradicated by vaccinating women from an early age. However, limited medical facilities present a significant challenge in mid- or low-income countries. It can improve the survivability rate and be successfully treated if the CC is detected at earlier stages. Current technological improvements allow for cost-effective, more sensitive, and rapid screening and treatment measures for CC. DL techniques are widely adopted for the automated detection of CC. DL techniques and architectures are used to detect CC and provide higher detection performance. This study offers the design of Enhanced Cervical Precancerous Lesions Detection and Classification using the Archimedes Optimization Algorithm with Transfer Learning (CPLDC-AOATL) algorithm. The CPLDC-AOATL algorithm aims to diagnose cervical cancer using medical images. At the preliminary stage, the CPLDC-AOATL technique involves a bilateral filtering (BF) technique to eliminate the noise in the input images. Besides, the CPLDC-AOATL technique applies the Inception-ResNetv2 model for the feature extraction process, and the use of AOA chose the hyperparameters. The CPLDC-AOATL technique involves a bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) model for the cancer detection process. The experimental outcome of the CPLDC-AOATL technique emphasized the superior accuracy outcome of 99.53% over other existing approaches under a benchmark dataset.

Characterizing the response of Timepix solid state detectors to dust impacts

Timepix Solid State Detectors (TSSDs) are used in a range of applications, including high energy particle physics, x-ray imaging spectroscopy, medical imaging, radiation monitors and compact dosimeters. In space sciences, such detectors have been used for characterizing the radiation environments of the Earth and lunar surface. This study is a pilot investigation of the response of TSSDs to high-velocity dust impacts. The setup used for the measurements is a silicon slab with 500μm thickness combined with the Timepix 2 read-out chip with a pixel size of 55×55 μm2. The outer surface of the SSD is coated with a 150 nm thick layer of aluminum to eliminate the sensitivity to light. The dust accelerator facility operated at the University of Colorado is used to expose the TSSD to micron- and sub-micron sized iron particles in a velocity range of 1–10 km/s. A fraction (5%) of the impacting dust particles were detected by the TSSD. The primary mechanism of the detection is through the light generated upon the impact and the charge signal spreads over multiple pixels. The fraction of dust particles kinetic energy that is converted to detectable charge on the TSSD is small, in the range of 10−3−10−6. The largest craters generated by the dust impacts were examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM images confirm that the particles penetrated the aluminum layer and the craters contain iron residue from the dust material. Over the investigated impact parameter range, the TSSD does not suffer a permanent damage from the dust impacts. Due to their small size and relatively low sensitivity to dust impacts, TSSDs could be used as dust detectors only in environments with high dust fluxes (e.g., in cometary trails), or where the precision measurements of the impact location are desired.

Empirical validation of Conformal Prediction for trustworthy skin lesions classification

Background and objective:Uncertainty quantification is a pivotal field that contributes to realizing reliable and robust systems. It becomes instrumental in fortifying safe decisions by providing complementary information, particularly within high-risk applications. existing studies have explored various methods that often operate under specific assumptions or necessitate substantial modifications to the network architecture to effectively account for uncertainties. The objective of this paper is to study Conformal Prediction, an emerging distribution-free uncertainty quantification technique, and provide a comprehensive understanding of the advantages and limitations inherent in various methods within the medical imaging field. Methods:In this study, we developed Conformal Prediction, Monte Carlo Dropout, and Evidential Deep Learning approaches to assess uncertainty quantification in deep neural networks. The effectiveness of these methods is evaluated using three public medical imaging datasets focused on detecting pigmented skin lesions and blood cell types. Results:The experimental results demonstrate a significant enhancement in uncertainty quantification with the utilization of the Conformal Prediction method, surpassing the performance of the other two methods. Furthermore, the results present insights into the effectiveness of each uncertainty method in handling Out-of-Distribution samples from domain-shifted datasets. Our code is available at: github.com/jfayyad/ConformalDx. Conclusions:Our conclusion highlights a robust and consistent performance of conformal prediction across diverse testing conditions. This positions it as the preferred choice for decision-making in safety-critical applications.

Counterfactual condition diffusion with continuous prior adaptive correction for anomaly detection in multimodal brain MRI

Pixel-level prediction of early lesions is important for disease treatment and saving patients’ lives. Owing to the heterogeneity of pathological brain structures and the complexity of brain imaging, automatic anomaly detection in brain MRIs is one of the most challenging tasks in medical imaging. Recent studies have considered it as an unsupervised issue of healthy distributions. However, it is generally insufficient for modeling a normal distribution, mining abnormal data information, and considering common and complementary knowledge of multimodal data. The motivation of this study is to consider the potential performance gains of a diffusion model utilizing multimodal features for brain anomaly detection. The specific novelty of the proposal mainly includes: (1) proposing a conditional-guided diffusion model that trains healthy and abnormal images with superior performance to the unsupervised model; (2) converting pixel-level lesion prediction as a label-level counterfactual estimate and reconstructing healthy domain images with minimal intervention; (3) constructing a histogram-driven adaptive prior correction module, which enhances the utilization of multimodal information; and (4) proposing enhanced receptive field and attention modules that improve spatial perceptual loss during iterative denoising sampling. The proposed Ano-cDiff exhibited high performance in downstream brain glioma segmentation tasks. This resulted in an 8.06% increase in precision, a 0.2% increase in specificity, and a 2.58% increase in dice over the baseline diffusion model. In addition, it obtained optimal Dice and Specificity compared to state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, massive ablation experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the components in the proposed model. Our code is available at https://github.com/Snow1949/Ano-cDiff.

GANs in Medical Imaging: Synthesizing of Realistic Images for Analysis

GANs in Medical Imaging: Synthesizing of Realistic Images for Analysis

A light-weight rectangular decomposition large kernel convolution network for deformable medical image registration

The performance and speed of medical image registration have been greatly boosted by advanced deep-learning based methods. However, most current methods are challenged by large deformations between input images, which necessitate a compromise in computational cost to enhance the model’s receptive field and its ability to model long-range spatial relationships for improving registration performance. In order to enhance the performance of registration for images with large deformations at a lower computational cost, in this paper, we propose a light-weight registration model with the ability to model large receptive fields and long-range spatial relationships, named LL-Net. The core components of LL-Net consist of a Rectangular Decomposition Large Kernel Attention (RD-LKA) layer and a Spatial and Channel Fusion Attention (SC-Fusion) layer. The RD-LKA layer utilizes anisotropic depth-wise large kernel convolutions to capture large receptive fields with an extremely low parameter count while modeling long-range spatial relationships. Moreover, the SC-Fusion layer enhances the model’s feature fusion capability and strengthens feature representations at critical locations. Our LL-Net exhibits state-of-the-art performance across multiple datasets. Specifically, it achieves a Dice score of 76.7% and an HD95 of 2.983 mm on the IXI dataset, and a Dice score of 87.8% and an HD95 of 1.042 mm on the OASIS dataset. Experimental results substantiate the efficacy of LL-Net in capturing large receptive fields and modeling long-range spatial relationships. The code for LL-Net is available at https://github.com/BoyOfChu/LL_Net.

Exploring the Potential of Deep Learning in Healthcare: A perspective

Deep learning has received much interest in the field of healthcare in recent years. Health care plays a significant role in delivering services and practices that promote, maintain, and restore health of an individual. However, applying deep learning in healthcare is still an exciting area of research. This paper explores the application of deep learning, and henceforth, it highlights new perspectives in healthcare by reviewing published state-of-the-art research works from four scholarly databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, Pubmed, and Google Scholar. The selected studies were from April 2014 to April 2024, and based on the predefined quality assessment criteria, 16 articles were thoroughly reviewed after the preliminary extraction, review, and screening phases. The study’s findings indicate that deep learning has been applied in healthcare, particularly in medical images, digital consultation, Electronic medical records, and genomics. Furthermore, challenges such as deep learning cannot replicate the human touch and emotional connection that patients often seek in their healthcare journey, and data privacy are highlighted. Lastly, new perspectives, such as leveraging emerging technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and federated learning, are suggested to address these challenges

Application of Multi-Level Thresholding Fuzzy Entropy and Differential Evolution Techniques to Medical Image Compression

Each storage medium possesses a capacity that is vital to technological progress in supporting internet speed for downloading extensive data. Effective storage media management includes compressing image data to optimize available space utilization for efficient usage. Digital processing of image data for each patient over a specific duration is crucial. This study proposes medical image compression utilizing multi-level thresholding employing the fuzzy entropy and differential evolution (FE-DE) algorithms. The compression results are subsequently assessed using the Peak Signal to Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM), and Feature Similarity Index Measure (FSIM) to appraise the algorithm's performance and the quality of the compressed images. Employing Fuzzy Compression yields increasing PSNR, SSIM, and FSIM values as the threshold level rises, with the highest values achieved at threshold level 40. The increase in value is in line with the visual quality and compressed image produced.

LitefusionNet: Boosting the performance for medical image classification with an intelligent and lightweight feature fusion network

Medical image analysis plays a crucial role in modern healthcare for accurate diagnosis and treatment. However, the inherent challenges and limitations posed by the complexity and variability of medical images, coupled with the shortcomings of existing methods, necessitate the development of novel approaches. In this study, we propose LiteFusionNet (Lightweight Fusion Network), a lightweight model that effectively addresses these challenges, offering the advantage of accurate and efficient medical image classification while mitigating the computational demands. The LitefusionNet leverages the power of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) and feature fusion techniques to achieve improved performance in medical image classification. LitefusionNet combines the strengths of MobileNet and MobileNetV2 architectures to extract robust features from medical images. These features capture discriminative information from different levels of abstraction, enhancing the model's ability to capture fine-grained patterns. The fusion process employs a concatenation method to combine the extracted features, resulting in a more comprehensive representation that improves the model's classification accuracy. To evaluate the effectiveness of LitefusionNet, extensive experiments are conducted on a diverse set of publicly available medical image datasets, including brain MRI, skin, CT, X-ray, and histology. The results demonstrate that LitefusionNet outperforms several existing models in terms of classification accuracy, showcasing its efficacy in different medical imaging modalities. Furthermore, we provide interpretability to the model's predictions by performing Grad-CAM analysis, enabling insights into the important regions in the medical images that contribute to the classification decision. In addition, we compare LitefusionNet with five pre-trained models. LiteFusionNet excels in medical image classification, boasting impressive accuracies across diverse datasets: 97.33% for brain MRI, 91.11% for skin, 99.00% for CT, 98.15% for X-ray, and 92.11% for histology. These results underscore LiteFusionNet's robust and versatile performance, making it a compelling solution for accurate and efficient medical image analysis. Overall, LitefusionNet strikes a balance between accuracy, efficiency, and real-time performance. Our findings demonstrate its potential as a promising solution for accurate and efficient medical image analysis, with applications in diagnostic support systems and clinical decision-making.

Role of metaheuristic algorithms in healthcare: A comprehensive investigation across clinical diagnosis, medical imaging, operations management, and public health

Abstract Metaheuristic algorithms have emerged in recent years as effective computational tools for addressing complex optimization problems in many areas, including healthcare. These algorithms can efficiently search through large solution spaces and locate optimal or near-optimal responses to complex issues. Although metaheuristic algorithms are crucial, previous review studies have not thoroughly investigated their applications in key healthcare areas such as clinical diagnosis and monitoring, medical imaging and processing, healthcare operations and management, as well as public health and emergency response. Numerous studies also failed to highlight the common challenges faced by metaheuristics in these areas. This review thus offers a comprehensive understanding of metaheuristic algorithms in these domains, along with their challenges and future development. It focuses on specific challenges associated with data quality and quantity, privacy and security, the complexity of high-dimensional spaces, and interpretability. We also investigate the capacity of metaheuristics to tackle and mitigate these challenges efficiently. Metaheuristic algorithms have significantly contributed to clinical decision-making by optimizing treatment plans and resource allocation and improving patient outcomes, as demonstrated in the literature. Nevertheless, the improper utilization of metaheuristic algorithms may give rise to various complications within medicine and healthcare despite their numerous benefits. Primary concerns comprise the complexity of the algorithms employed, the challenge in understanding the outcomes, and ethical considerations concerning data confidentiality and the well-being of patients. Advanced metaheuristic algorithms can optimize the scheduling of maintenance for medical equipment, minimizing operational downtime and ensuring continuous access to critical resources.