Deep Convolutional Neural Network-Based Computer-Aided Detection System for COVID-19 Using Multiple Lung Scans: Design and Implementation Study

J Med Internet Res. 2021 Apr 26;23(4):e27468. doi: 10.2196/27468.

Abstract

Background: Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the imminent collapse of health care systems following the exhaustion of financial, hospital, and medicinal resources, the World Health Organization changed the alert level of the COVID-19 pandemic from high to very high. Meanwhile, more cost-effective and precise COVID-19 detection methods are being preferred worldwide.

Objective: Machine vision-based COVID-19 detection methods, especially deep learning as a diagnostic method in the early stages of the pandemic, have been assigned great importance during the pandemic. This study aimed to design a highly efficient computer-aided detection (CAD) system for COVID-19 by using a neural search architecture network (NASNet)-based algorithm.

Methods: NASNet, a state-of-the-art pretrained convolutional neural network for image feature extraction, was adopted to identify patients with COVID-19 in their early stages of the disease. A local data set, comprising 10,153 computed tomography scans of 190 patients with and 59 without COVID-19 was used.

Results: After fitting on the training data set, hyperparameter tuning, and topological alterations of the classifier block, the proposed NASNet-based model was evaluated on the test data set and yielded remarkable results. The proposed model's performance achieved a detection sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 0.999, 0.986, and 0.996, respectively.

Conclusions: The proposed model achieved acceptable results in the categorization of 2 data classes. Therefore, a CAD system was designed on the basis of this model for COVID-19 detection using multiple lung computed tomography scans. The system differentiated all COVID-19 cases from non-COVID-19 ones without any error in the application phase. Overall, the proposed deep learning-based CAD system can greatly help radiologists detect COVID-19 in its early stages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of a CAD system as a screening tool would accelerate disease detection and prevent the loss of health care resources.

Keywords: COVID-19; artificial intelligence; classification; computed tomography scan; computer-aided detection; convolutional neural network; coronavirus; deep learning; machine learning; machine vision; model; pandemic.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 / diagnostic imaging*
  • COVID-19 / virology*
  • Datasets as Topic
  • Deep Learning*
  • Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted*
  • Early Diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Lung / diagnostic imaging*
  • Lung / virology*
  • Pandemics
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed