SwiF-YOLO: A Deep Learning Method for Lung Nodule Detection

The main aim of optical remote sensing image (ORSI) object detection is to ascertain the area as well as class of all targets in given images. Nowadays, object detection methods established from deep learning are progressively applied to the analysis of the information from ORSI. But because of the compound background as well as extensive object scale shown in ORSI, the difficulty of object detection has increased. There are still some challenges to be solved. First, when the two bounding boxes don't overlap, current indexes like intersection over union (IoU) cannot identify the distance between them. Secondly, the existing methods using convolutional neural network (CNN) could not take advantage of the characteristics of multi-level features so that these methods are not very good at recognizing small-sized objects. To deal with these above problems, this paper comes up with a ORSI object detection method established on multi-level feature fusion as well as improved boundary box regression compared to IoU. Firstly, a new measure called generalized intersection over union (GIoU) is practiced. That metric could measure the similarity betwixt two bounding boxes, regardless of whether they overlap or not. At the same time, we also directly use GIoU as loss. Lastly, a multi-level feature fusion structure is practiced and it is also integrated into the existing convolutional neural network. In this way, our method could take advantage of the multi-level features. Quantitative comparison of the addressed method with the baseline approach on large-scale dataset named Dior are conducted. The comparison with the most advanced method shows that our method has reached the most advanced performance.

Intersection over Union (IoU) is the most popular evaluation metric used in the object detection benchmarks. However, there is a gap between optimizing the commonly used distance losses for regressing the parameters of a bounding box and maximizing this metric value. The optimal objective for a metric is the metric itself. In the case of axis-aligned 2D bounding boxes, it can be shown that $IoU$ can be directly used as a regression loss. However, $IoU$ has a plateau making it infeasible to optimize in the case of non-overlapping bounding boxes. In this paper, we address the weaknesses of $IoU$ by introducing a generalized version as both a new loss and a new metric. By incorporating this generalized $IoU$ ($GIoU$) as a loss into the state-of-the art object detection frameworks, we show a consistent improvement on their performance using both the standard, $IoU$ based, and new, $GIoU$ based, performance measures on popular object detection benchmarks such as PASCAL VOC and MS COCO.

Detection of lung nodules is key in the treatment of early-stage lung cancer. Computed tomography (CT) scanning technology is an essential contactless tool. However, stray radiation caused by a patient's slight movements and equipment operation can impair CT images, hindering accurate lung nodule detection. To address these issues, this study proposes an artificial intelligence-based anti-interference lung nodule detection method, which is primarily structured with Yolov8 and combines the modules of adaptive gating sparse attention (AGSA) and haar wavelet downsampling (HWD), referred to as Yolov8-AH. This model aimed to improve the accuracy of lung nodule detection in lung CT images under interference conditions. AGSA focuses on key areas of the image, promoting detection stability even when CT images are disturbed. Furthermore, HWD prioritizes the frequency components corresponding to the size and shape of the nodules, enhancing their visibility for easier detection and analysis. HWD effectively reduces image noise without significantly blurring the lung nodule edges, emphasizing them prominently within the lung tissue. Furthermore, when combined with the Yolov8 deep learning model driven by artificial intelligence, the model could accurately detect lung nodules, significantly aiding in early diagnosis and treatment. The effectiveness of the Yolov8-AH detection model was verified through ablation experiments, experiments under varying noise intensities, and experiments under different noise application ratios. The experimental results demonstrate that, compared to existing lung nodule detection models, the Yolov8-AH model achieves a 24% improvement in mAP50 and an 8.2% improvement in precision.

In this work, an efficient Hybrid Lung Nodules Detection Network (HLNDNet) is developed for early lung cancer diagnosis using the Hybrid Deep Leaning Approach (HDLA). The effect of hybridizing deep learning architectures, such as Visual Geometric Group (VGG)-16, AlexNet, and GoogleNet, has not been thoroughly examined, even though these designs have been extensively researched for various image processing applications. Hence, this work designs an HDLA to detect and classify lung nodules using Computed Tomography (CT) images. The important modules include preprocessing, lung region segmentation, and lung nodule detection by a hybrid approach. Wiener filter and morphological operations are employed in preprocessing modules to filter noise and enhance lung structures. In the second module, the lungs are segmented, and the lung’s external components are removed using the blob detection technique. The proposed semantic image segmentation is employed independently using VGG-16, AlexNet, and GoogleNet in the last module. It labels each pixel in the lung region as either normal or abnormal (lung nodule). In the last module, the outputs of the architectures are hybridized using a Weighted Voting Approach (WVA) to reduce the false positives. The HLNDNet’s performance is evaluated using CT images of 130 patients from the database of Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) with three performance metrics: Intersection over Union (IoU), Class Accuracy (CA), and Pixel Accuracy (PA). Results show that the proposed HLNDNet attains an impressive PA of 98.39%, mean CA of 90.42%, and mean IoU of 78.68% for detecting lung nodules, as the hybrid approach helps improve the performance metrics over their counterparts.

Aerial image-based target detection has problems such as low accuracy in multiscale target detection situations, slow detection speed, missed targets and falsely detected targets. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a detection algorithm based on the improved You Only Look Once (YOLO)v3 network architecture from the perspective of model efficiency and applies it to multiscale image-based target detection. First, the K-means clustering algorithm is used to cluster an aerial dataset and optimize the anchor frame parameters of the network to improve the effectiveness of target detection. Second, the feature extraction method of the algorithm is improved, and a feature fusion method is used to establish a multiscale (large-, medium-, and small-scale) prediction layer, which mitigates the problem of small target information loss in deep networks and improves the detection accuracy of the algorithm. Finally, label regularization processing is performed on the predicted value, the generalized intersection over union (GIoU) is used as the bounding box regression loss function, and the focal loss function is integrated into the bounding box confidence loss function, which not only improves the target detection accuracy but also effectively reduces the false detection rate and missed target rate of the algorithm. An experimental comparison on the RSOD and NWPU VHR-10 aerial datasets shows that the detection effect of high-efficiency YOLO (HE-YOLO) is significantly improved compared with that of YOLOv3, and the average detection accuracies are increased by 8.92% and 7.79% on the two datasets, respectively. The algorithm not only shows better detection performance for multiscale targets but also reduces the missed target rate and false detection rate and has good robustness and generalizability.

Early detection of lung cancer is crucial in reducing mortality. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be a viable imaging technique for lung cancer detection. Numerous lung nodule detection methods have been studied for computed tomography (CT) images. However, to the best of our knowledge, no detection methods have been carried out for the MR images. In this paper, a lung nodule detection method based on deep learning is proposed for thoracic MR images. With parameter optimizing, spatial three-channel input construction, and transfer learning, a faster R-convolution neural network (CNN) is designed to locate the lung nodule region. Then, a false positive (FP) reduction scheme based on anatomical characteristics is designed to reduce FPs and preserve the true nodule. The proposed method is tested on 142 T2-weighted MR scans from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. The sensitivity of the proposed method is 85.2% with 3.47 FPs per scan. The experimental results demonstrate that the designed faster R-CNN network and the FP reduction scheme are effective in the lung nodule detection and the FP reduction for MR images.

Lung cancer is a deadly cancer that causes millions of deaths every year around the world. Accurate lung nodule detection and segmentation in computed tomography (CT) images is a vital step for diagnosing lung cancer early. Most existing systems face several challenges, such as the heterogeneity in CT images and variation in nodule size, shape, and location, which limit their accuracy. In an attempt to handle these challenges, this article proposes a fully automated deep learning framework that consists of lung nodule detection and segmentation models. Our proposed system comprises two cascaded stages: (1) nodule detection based on fine-tuned Faster R-CNN to localize the nodules in CT images, and (2) nodule segmentation based on the U-Net architecture with two effective blocks, namely position attention-aware weight excitation (PAWE) and channel attention-aware weight excitation (CAWE), to enhance the ability to discriminate between nodule and non-nodule feature representations. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system yields a Dice score of 89.79% and 90.35%, and an intersection over union (IoU) of 82.34% and 83.21% on the publicly available LUNA16 and LIDC-IDRI datasets, respectively.

Lung cancer has ranked first in incidence and mortality among all malignant tumors. Lung nodules are one of the early features of lung cancer. The early detection of lung nodules can help reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer. However, the detection performance of lung nodules is low due to their diverse shapes and small size. In this paper, an improved YOLOv5 method is proposed for lung nodule detection. By adding an attention mechanism to the feature extraction network, the feature expression capability is effectively improved. The method of feature fusion has also changed to make feature fusion more adequate. The experiments are conducted using the publicly available dataset provided by the Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC). The experimental results show that the improved network has stronger feature expression and more adequate feature fusion capability compared with the original YOLOv5 network. The index of AP is improved by 1.4%.

To address the challenges posed by the large scale and dense distribution of small targets in remote sensing images, as well as the issues of missed detection and false detection, this paper proposes a one-stage target detection algorithm, DCN-YOLO, based on refined feature extraction techniques. First, we introduce DCNv2 and a residual structure to reconstruct a new backbone network, which enhances the extraction of shallow feature information and improves the network’s accuracy. Then, a novel feature fusion module is employed in the neck network to adaptively adjust the fusion weight for integrating texture information from shallow features with deep semantic information. This targeted approach effectively suppresses noise caused by extracting shallow features and enhances the representation of key features. Moreover, the normalized Gaussian Wasserstein distance loss, replacing Intersection over Union (IoU), is used as the regression loss function in the model, to enhance the detection capability of multi-scale targets. Finally, comparing our evaluations against recent advanced methods such as YOLOv7 and YOLOv6 demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach, which achieves an average accuracy of 20.1% for small targets on the DOTAv1.0 dataset and 29.0% on the DIOR dataset.

A survey and taxonomy of 2.5D approaches for lung segmentation and nodule detection in CT images

A crucial role is played by steering-angle prediction in the control of autonomous vehicles (AVs). It mainly includes the prediction and control of the steering angle. However, the prediction accuracy and calculation efficiency of traditional YOLOv5 are limited. For the control of the steering angle, angular velocity is difficult to measure, and the angle control effect is affected by external disturbances and unknown friction. This paper proposes a lightweight steering angle prediction network model called YOLOv5Ms, based on YOLOv5, aiming to achieve accurate prediction while enhancing computational efficiency. Additionally, an adaptive output feedback control scheme with output constraints based on neural networks is proposed to regulate the predicted steering angle using the YOLOv5Ms algorithm effectively. Firstly, given that most lane-line data sets consist of simulated images and lack diversity, a novel lane data set derived from real roads is manually created to train the proposed network model. To improve real-time accuracy in steering-angle prediction and enhance effectiveness in steering control, we update the bounding box regression loss function with the generalized intersection over union (GIoU) to Shape-IoU_Loss as a better-converging regression loss function for bounding-box improvement. The YOLOv5Ms model achieves a 30.34% reduction in weight storage space while simultaneously improving accuracy by 7.38% compared to the YOLOv5s model. Furthermore, an adaptive output feedback control scheme with output constraints based on neural networks is introduced to regulate the predicted steering angle via YOLOv5Ms effectively. Moreover, utilizing the backstepping control method and introducing the Lyapunov barrier function enables us to design an adaptive neural network output feedback controller with output constraints. Finally, a strict stability analysis based on Lyapunov stability theory ensures the boundedness of all signals within the closed-loop system. Numerical simulations and experiments have shown that the proposed method provides a 39.16% better root mean squared error (RMSE) score than traditional backstepping control, and it achieves good estimation performance for angles, angular velocity, and unknown disturbances.

Background: Optical coherence tomography is a powerful modality to assess atherosclerotic lesions, but detecting lesions in high-resolution OCT is challenging and requires expert knowledge. Deep-learning algorithms can be used to automatically identify atherosclerotic lesions, facilitating identification of patients at risk. We trained a deep-learning algorithm (DeepAD) with co-registered, annotated histopathology to predict atherosclerotic lesions in optical coherence tomography (OCT).Methods: Two datasets were used for training DeepAD: (i) a histopathology data set from 7 autopsy cases with 62 OCT frames and co-registered histopathology for high quality manual annotation and (ii) a clinical data set from 51 patients with 222 OCT frames in which manual annotations were based on clinical expertise only. A U-net based deep convolutional neural network (CNN) ensemble was employed as an atherosclerotic lesion prediction algorithm. Results were analyzed using intersection over union (IOU) for segmentation.Results: DeepAD showed good performance regarding the prediction of atherosclerotic lesions, with a median IOU of 0.68 ± 0.18 for segmentation of atherosclerotic lesions. Detection of calcified lesions yielded an IOU = 0.34. When training the algorithm without histopathology-based annotations, a performance drop of >0.25 IOU was observed. The practical application of DeepAD was evaluated retrospectively in a clinical cohort (n = 11 cases), showing high sensitivity as well as specificity and similar performance when compared to manual expert analysis.Conclusion: Automated detection of atherosclerotic lesions in OCT is improved using a histopathology-based deep-learning algorithm, allowing accurate detection in the clinical setting. An automated decision-support tool based on DeepAD could help in risk prediction and guide interventional treatment decisions.

Software was developed in Python for the digital processing of object images before their detection using the You Only Look Once (YOLO) artificial neural network. Detection was carried out on object images, specifically vehicles and other road users. The preprocessing of images was performed through histogram equalization and local contrast enhancement. The original images were read from video cameras or graphic files. Image detection was performed using the medium-sized YOLO convolutional neural network model, YOLOv8m. As a result of detection, the studied objects, particularly cars, were highlighted with rectangular bounding boxes. To evaluate the accuracy of object detection, several metrics (parameters) were used: Precision, Recall, Intersection over Union (IoU), F1, and Average Precision (AP). The YOLO network was pre-trained on the Common Objects in Context dataset. The YOLO neural network returns the object recognition confidence, the coordinates of its center (x, y) on the image, and its width and height (w, h). The detected objects are marked with rectangular bounding boxes. The positioning of objects in the images was manually performed using the Roboflow tool, which allows for accurate spatial positioning of each object. The study of the impact of image preprocessing on the accuracy of object detection by the YOLO network was conducted using a typical traffic scene image. After histogram equalization, the histogram becomes more symmetrical and uniform, improving the visual quality of both dark and bright areas. This led to improved object detection accuracy across almost all metrics. The increase in detection accuracy by the IoU parameter is 0.169. The summary improvement in detection accuracy by the IoU, F1, AP parameters is 0.502. It was shown that after image preprocessing, detection accuracy increased, and all vehicles were correctly detected. The developed software can be used in various computer vision systems as well as in Internet of Things systems for remote monitoring and control.

Early detection of lung nodules is an important means of reducing the lung cancer mortality rate. In this paper, we propose a three‐dimensional CT image lung nodule detection method based on parallel pooling and dense blocks, which includes two parts, i.e., candidate nodule extraction and false positive suppression. First, a dense U‐shaped backbone network with parallel pooling is proposed to obtain the candidate nodule probability map. The parallel pooling structure uses multiple pooling operations for downsampling to capture spatial information comprehensively and address the problem of information loss resulting from maximum and average pooling in the shallow layers. Then, a parasitic network with parallel pooling, dense blocks, and attention modules is designed to suppress false positive nodules. The parasitic network takes the multiscale feature maps of the backbone network as the input. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly improves the accuracy of lung nodule detection, achieving a CPM score of 0.91, which outperforms many existing methods.

Motivated by the increasing popularity and success of attention mechanisms, we observe that popular convolutional attention models like Squeeze-and-Excite (SE) and Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) rely on expensive multi-layer perceptron (MLP) layers. These MLP layers significantly increase computational complexity, making such models less applicable to 3D image contexts, where the data dimensionality and computational costs are inherently higher. In 3D medical imaging, such as pulmonary CT scans, efficient processing is crucial due to the large volume of data. Traditional 2D attention mechanisms, when generalized to 3D, increase the computational load, creating a demand for more efficient attention mechanisms that can operate effectively within a 3D tasks. In this work, we investigate the possibility of incorporating fully convolutional attention within 3D context. Particularly, we present two 3D fully convolutional attention blocks in which we demonstrate effectiveness within the 3D context. We demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed method using the pulmonary CT scans for 3D lung nodule detection. Building on existing 3D nodule detection methods, we present AttentNet, an automated lung nodule detection framework from CT images that performs detection as an ensemble of two stages, candidate proposal stage (Region Proposal Network), in which a high number of candidates is produced, and a false positive reduction stage to reduce the number of false alarms. Throughout our work, we compare the proposed 3D convolutional attention blocks to a number of popular 2D convolutional attention mechanisms by generalizing them to 3D modules, including SE units and CBAM channel attention and spatial attention units. We also compare these to Transformer self-attention units. For the False positive reduction stage, we incorporate a joint analysis approach that considers the variable nodule morphology by aggregating spatial information from different contextual levels. We use LUNA-16 lung nodule detection dataset to demonstrate the benefits of using the proposed fully convolutional attention blocks comparing to baseline popular lung nodule detection methods where no attention is used. It is worth noting that our work does not aim at achieving state-of-the-art results in the lung nodule detection task, rather to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating fully convolutional attention within a 3D context.