Deep learning model for fully automated breast cancer detection system from thermograms

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 14;17(1):e0262349. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262349. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases among women worldwide. It is considered one of the leading causes of death among women. Therefore, early detection is necessary to save lives. Thermography imaging is an effective diagnostic technique which is used for breast cancer detection with the help of infrared technology. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic breast cancer detection system. First, U-Net network is used to automatically extract and isolate the breast area from the rest of the body which behaves as noise during the breast cancer detection model. Second, we propose a two-class deep learning model, which is trained from scratch for the classification of normal and abnormal breast tissues from thermal images. Also, it is used to extract more characteristics from the dataset that is helpful in training the network and improve the efficiency of the classification process. The proposed system is evaluated using real data (A benchmark, database (DMR-IR)) and achieved accuracy = 99.33%, sensitivity = 100% and specificity = 98.67%. The proposed system is expected to be a helpful tool for physicians in clinical use.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Automation, Laboratory / methods
  • Benchmarking / methods
  • Breast / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Data Accuracy
  • Databases, Factual
  • Deep Learning
  • Early Detection of Cancer / methods
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Neural Networks, Computer
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Thermography / methods*

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.