Many screening and diagnostic methods are currently available for biliary atresia (BA), but the early and accurate diagnosis of BA remains a challenge with existing methods. This study aimed to use deep learning algorithms to intelligently analyze the ultrasound image data, build a BA ultrasound intelligent diagnostic model based on the convolutional neural network, and realize an intelligent diagnosis of BA.
A total of 4,887 gallbladder ultrasound images of infants with BA, non-BA hyperbilirubinemia, and healthy infants were collected. Two mask region convolutional neural network (Mask R-CNN) models based on different backbone feature extraction networks were constructed. The diagnostic performance between the two models was compared through good-quality images at the image level and the patient level. The diagnostic performance between the two models was compared through poor-quality images. The diagnostic performance of BA between the model and four pediatric radiologists was compared at the image level and the patient level.
The classification performance of BA in model 2 was slightly higher than that in model 1 in the test set, both at the image level and at the patient level, with a significant difference of
The performance of model 2 based on Mask R-CNN in the diagnosis of BA reached or even exceeded the level of pediatric radiology experts.