Fast automated detection of COVID-19 from medical images using convolutional neural networks

Commun Biol. 2021 Jan 4;4(1):35. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01535-7.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic posing significant health risks. The diagnostic test sensitivity of COVID-19 is limited due to irregularities in specimen handling. We propose a deep learning framework that identifies COVID-19 from medical images as an auxiliary testing method to improve diagnostic sensitivity. We use pseudo-coloring methods and a platform for annotating X-ray and computed tomography images to train the convolutional neural network, which achieves a performance similar to that of experts and provides high scores for multiple statistical indices (F1 scores > 96.72% (0.9307, 0.9890) and specificity >99.33% (0.9792, 1.0000)). Heatmaps are used to visualize the salient features extracted by the neural network. The neural network-based regression provides strong correlations between the lesion areas in the images and five clinical indicators, resulting in high accuracy of the classification framework. The proposed method represents a potential computer-aided diagnosis method for COVID-19 in clinical practice.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • COVID-19 / diagnosis*
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • Deep Learning*
  • Humans
  • Neural Networks, Computer*
  • Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
  • SARS-CoV-2 / physiology
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*