Greater cane rat algorithm (GCRA): A nature-inspired metaheuristic for optimization problems.

This paper introduces a new metaheuristic technique known as the Greater Cane Rat Algorithm (GCRA) for addressing optimization problems. The optimization process of GCRA is inspired by the intelligent foraging behaviors of greater cane rats during and off mating season. Being highly nocturnal, they are intelligible enough to leave trails as they forage through reeds and grass. Such trails would subsequently lead to food and water sources and shelter. The exploration phase is achieved when they leave the different shelters scattered around their territory to forage and leave trails. It is presumed that the alpha male maintains knowledge about these routes, and as a result, other rats modify their location according to this information. Also, the males are aware of the breeding season and separate themselves from the group. The assumption is that once the group is separated during this season, the foraging activities are concentrated within areas of abundant food sources, which aids the exploitation. Hence, the smart foraging paths and behaviors during the mating season are mathematically represented to realize the design of the GCR algorithm and carry out the optimization tasks. The performance of GCRA is tested using twenty-two classical benchmark functions, ten CEC 2020 complex functions, and the CEC 2011 real-world continuous benchmark problems. To further test the performance of the proposed algorithm, six classic problems in the engineering domain were used. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of computational and convergence results is presented to shed light on the efficacy and stability levels of GCRA. The statistical significance of the results is compared with ten state-of-the-art algorithms using Friedman's and Wilcoxon's signed rank tests. These findings show that GCRA produced optimal or nearly optimal solutions and evaded the trap of local minima, distinguishing it from the rival optimization algorithms employed to tackle similar problems. The GCRA optimizer source code is publicly available at: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/165241-greater-cane-rat-algorithm-gcra.

Revolutionizing crop disease detection with computational deep learning: a comprehensive review.

Digital image processing has witnessed a significant transformation, owing to the adoption of deep learning (DL) algorithms, which have proven to be vastly superior to conventional methods for crop detection. These DL algorithms have recently found successful applications across various domains, translating input data, such as images of afflicted plants, into valuable insights, like the identification of specific crop diseases. This innovation has spurred the development of cutting-edge techniques for early detection and diagnosis of crop diseases, leveraging tools such as convolutional neural networks (CNN), K-nearest neighbour (KNN), support vector machines (SVM), and artificial neural networks (ANN). This paper offers an all-encompassing exploration of the contemporary literature on methods for diagnosing, categorizing, and gauging the severity of crop diseases. The review examines the performance analysis of the latest machine learning (ML) and DL techniques outlined in these studies. It also scrutinizes the methodologies and datasets and outlines the prevalent recommendations and identified gaps within different research investigations. As a conclusion, the review offers insights into potential solutions and outlines the direction for future research in this field. The review underscores that while most studies have concentrated on traditional ML algorithms and CNN, there has been a noticeable dearth of focus on emerging DL algorithms like capsule neural networks and vision transformers. Furthermore, it sheds light on the fact that several datasets employed for training and evaluating DL models have been tailored to suit specific crop types, emphasizing the pressing need for a comprehensive and expansive image dataset encompassing a wider array of crop varieties. Moreover, the survey draws attention to the prevailing trend where the majority of research endeavours have concentrated on individual plant diseases, ML, or DL algorithms. In light of this, it advocates for the development of a unified framework that harnesses an ensemble of ML and DL algorithms to address the complexities of multiple plant diseases effectively.

A novel feature selection algorithm for identifying hub genes in lung cancer.

Lung cancer, a life-threatening disease primarily affecting lung tissue, remains a significant contributor to mortality in both developed and developing nations. Accurate biomarker identification is imperative for effective cancer diagnosis and therapeutic strategies. This study introduces the Voting-Based Enhanced Binary Ebola Optimization Search Algorithm (VBEOSA), an innovative ensemble-based approach combining binary optimization and the Ebola optimization search algorithm. VBEOSA harnesses the collective power of the state-of-the-art classification models through soft voting. Moreover, our research applies VBEOSA to an extensive lung cancer gene expression dataset obtained from TCGA, following essential preprocessing steps including outlier detection and removal, data normalization, and filtration. VBEOSA aids in feature selection, leading to the discovery of key hub genes closely associated with lung cancer, validated through comprehensive protein-protein interaction analysis. Notably, our investigation reveals ten significant hub genes-ADRB2, ACTB, ARRB2, GNGT2, ADRB1, ACTG1, ACACA, ATP5A1, ADCY9, and ADRA1B-each demonstrating substantial involvement in the domain of lung cancer. Furthermore, our pathway analysis sheds light on the prominence of strategic pathways such as salivary secretion and the calcium signaling pathway, providing invaluable insights into the intricate molecular mechanisms underpinning lung cancer. We also utilize the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) method to identify gene modules exhibiting strong correlations with clinical attributes associated with lung cancer. Our findings underscore the efficacy of VBEOSA in feature selection and offer profound insights into the multifaceted molecular landscape of lung cancer. Finally, we are confident that this research has the potential to improve diagnostic capabilities and further enrich our understanding of the disease, thus setting the stage for future advancements in the clinical management of lung cancer. The VBEOSA source codes is publicly available at https://github.com/TEHNAN/VBEOSA-A-Novel-Feature-Selection-Algorithm-for-Identifying-hub-Genes-in-Lung-Cancer .

A bio-inspired convolution neural network architecture for automatic breast cancer detection and classification using RNA-Seq gene expression data.

Breast cancer is considered one of the significant health challenges and ranks among the most prevalent and dangerous cancer types affecting women globally. Early breast cancer detection and diagnosis are crucial for effective treatment and personalized therapy. Early detection and diagnosis can help patients and physicians discover new treatment options, provide a more suitable quality of life, and ensure increased survival rates. Breast cancer detection using gene expression involves many complexities, such as the issue of dimensionality and the complicatedness of the gene expression data. This paper proposes a bio-inspired CNN model for breast cancer detection using gene expression data downloaded from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA). The data contains 1208 clinical samples of 19,948 genes with 113 normal and 1095 cancerous samples. In the proposed model, Array-Array Intensity Correlation (AAIC) is used at the pre-processing stage for outlier removal, followed by a normalization process to avoid biases in the expression measures. Filtration is used for gene reduction using a threshold value of 0.25. Thereafter the pre-processed gene expression dataset was converted into images which were later converted to grayscale to meet the requirements of the model. The model also uses a hybrid model of CNN architecture with a metaheuristic algorithm, namely the Ebola Optimization Search Algorithm (EOSA), to enhance the detection of breast cancer. The traditional CNN and five hybrid algorithms were compared with the classification result of the proposed model. The competing hybrid algorithms include the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA-CNN), the Genetic Algorithm (GA-CNN), the Satin Bowerbird Optimization (SBO-CNN), the Life Choice-Based Optimization (LCBO-CNN), and the Multi-Verse Optimizer (MVO-CNN). The results show that the proposed model determined the classes with high-performance measurements with an accuracy of 98.3%, a precision of 99%, a recall of 99%, an f1-score of 99%, a kappa of 90.3%, a specificity of 92.8%, and a sensitivity of 98.9% for the cancerous class. The results suggest that the proposed method has the potential to be a reliable and precise approach to breast cancer detection, which is crucial for early diagnosis and personalized therapy.

Automatic detection and classification of lung cancer CT scans based on deep learning and ebola optimization search algorithm.

Recently, research has shown an increased spread of non-communicable diseases such as cancer. Lung cancer diagnosis and detection has become one of the biggest obstacles in recent years. Early lung cancer diagnosis and detection would reliably promote safety and the survival of many lives globally. The precise classification of lung cancer using medical images will help physicians select suitable therapy to reduce cancer mortality. Much work has been carried out in lung cancer detection using CNN. However, lung cancer prediction still becomes difficult due to the multifaceted designs in the CT scan. Moreover, CNN models have challenges that affect their performance, including choosing the optimal architecture, selecting suitable model parameters, and picking the best values for weights and biases. To address the problem of selecting optimal weight and bias combination required for classification of lung cancer in CT images, this study proposes a hybrid metaheuristic and CNN algorithm. We first designed a CNN architecture and then computed the solution vector of the model. The resulting solution vector was passed to the Ebola optimization search algorithm (EOSA) to select the best combination of weights and bias to train the CNN model to handle the classification problem. After thoroughly training the EOSA-CNN hybrid model, we obtained the optimal configuration, which yielded good performance. Experimentation with the publicly accessible Iraq-Oncology Teaching Hospital / National Center for Cancer Diseases (IQ-OTH/NCCD) lung cancer dataset showed that the EOSA metaheuristic algorithm yielded a classification accuracy of 0.9321. Similarly, the performance comparisons of EOSA-CNN with other methods, namely, GA-CNN, LCBO-CNN, MVO-CNN, SBO-CNN, WOA-CNN, and the classical CNN, were also computed and presented. The result showed that EOSA-CNN achieved a specificity of 0.7941, 0.97951, 0.9328, and sensitivity of 0.9038, 0.13333, and 0.9071 for normal, benign, and malignant cases, respectively. This confirms that the hybrid algorithm provides a good solution for the classification of lung cancer.

Automated COVID-19 detection with convolutional neural networks.

This paper focuses on addressing the urgent need for efficient and accurate automated screening tools for COVID-19 detection. Inspired by existing research efforts, we propose two framework models to tackle this challenge. The first model combines a conventional CNN architecture as a feature extractor with XGBoost as the classifier. The second model utilizes a classical CNN architecture with a Feedforward Neural Network for classification. The key distinction between the two models lies in their classification layers. Bayesian optimization techniques are employed to optimize the hyperparameters of both models, enabling a "cheat-start" to the training process with optimal configurations. To mitigate overfitting, transfer learning techniques such as Dropout and Batch normalization are incorporated. The CovidxCT-2A dataset is used for training, validation, and testing purposes. To establish a benchmark, we compare the performance of our models with state-of-the-art methods reported in the literature. Evaluation metrics including Precision, Recall, Specificity, Accuracy, and F1-score are employed to assess the efficacy of the models. The hybrid model demonstrates impressive results, achieving high precision (98.43%), recall (98.41%), specificity (99.26%), accuracy (99.04%), and F1-score (98.42%). The standalone CNN model exhibits slightly lower but still commendable performance, with precision (98.25%), recall (98.44%), specificity (99.27%), accuracy (98.97%), and F1-score (98.34%). Importantly, both models outperform five other state-of-the-art models in terms of classification accuracy, as demonstrated by the results of this study.

Machine Learning Research Trends in Africa: A 30 Years Overview with Bibliometric Analysis Review.

The machine learning (ML) paradigm has gained much popularity today. Its algorithmic models are employed in every field, such as natural language processing, pattern recognition, object detection, image recognition, earth observation and many other research areas. In fact, machine learning technologies and their inevitable impact suffice in many technological transformation agendas currently being propagated by many nations, for which the already yielded benefits are outstanding. From a regional perspective, several studies have shown that machine learning technology can help address some of Africa's most pervasive problems, such as poverty alleviation, improving education, delivering quality healthcare services, and addressing sustainability challenges like food security and climate change. In this state-of-the-art paper, a critical bibliometric analysis study is conducted, coupled with an extensive literature survey on recent developments and associated applications in machine learning research with a perspective on Africa. The presented bibliometric analysis study consists of 2761 machine learning-related documents, of which 89% were articles with at least 482 citations published in 903 journals during the past three decades. Furthermore, the collated documents were retrieved from the Science Citation Index EXPANDED, comprising research publications from 54 African countries between 1993 and 2021. The bibliometric study shows the visualization of the current landscape and future trends in machine learning research and its application to facilitate future collaborative research and knowledge exchange among authors from different research institutions scattered across the African continent.

Evolutionary binary feature selection using adaptive ebola optimization search algorithm for high-dimensional datasets.

Feature selection problem represents the field of study that requires approximate algorithms to identify discriminative and optimally combined features. The evaluation and suitability of these selected features are often analyzed using classifiers. These features are locked with data increasingly being generated from different sources such as social media, surveillance systems, network applications, and medical records. The high dimensionality of these datasets often impairs the quality of the optimal combination of these features selected. The use of the binary optimization method has been proposed in the literature to address this challenge. However, the underlying deficiency of the single binary optimizer is transferred to the quality of the features selected. Though hybrid methods have been proposed, most still suffer from the inherited design limitation of the single combined methods. To address this, we proposed a novel hybrid binary optimization capable of effectively selecting features from increasingly high-dimensional datasets. The approach used in this study designed a sub-population selective mechanism that dynamically assigns individuals to a 2-level optimization process. The level-1 method first mutates items in the population and then reassigns them to a level-2 optimizer. The selective mechanism determines what sub-population is assigned for the level-2 optimizer based on the exploration and exploitation phase of the level-1 optimizer. In addition, we designed nested transfer (NT) functions and investigated the influence of the function on the level-1 optimizer. The binary Ebola optimization search algorithm (BEOSA) is applied for the level-1 mutation, while the simulated annealing (SA) and firefly (FFA) algorithms are investigated for the level-2 optimizer. The outcome of these are the HBEOSA-SA and HBEOSA-FFA, which are then investigated on the NT, and their corresponding variants HBEOSA-SA-NT and HBEOSA-FFA-NT with no NT applied. The hybrid methods were experimentally tested over high-dimensional datasets to address the challenge of feature selection. A comparative analysis was done on the methods to obtain performance variability with the low-dimensional datasets. Results obtained for classification accuracy for large, medium, and small-scale datasets are 0.995 using HBEOSA-FFA, 0.967 using HBEOSA-FFA-NT, and 0.953 using HBEOSA-FFA, respectively. Fitness and cost values relative to large, medium, and small-scale datasets are 0.066 and 0.934 using HBEOSA-FFA, 0.068 and 0.932 using HBEOSA-FFA, with 0.222 and 0.970 using HBEOSA-SA-NT, respectively. Findings from the study indicate that the HBEOSA-SA, HBEOSA-FFA, HBEOSA-SA-NT and HBEOSA-FFA-NT outperformed the BEOSA.

Differential Evolution and Its Applications in Image Processing Problems: A Comprehensive Review.

Differential evolution (DE) is one of the highly acknowledged population-based optimization algorithms due to its simplicity, user-friendliness, resilience, and capacity to solve problems. DE has grown steadily since its beginnings due to its ability to solve various issues in academics and industry. Different mutation techniques and parameter choices influence DE's exploration and exploitation capabilities, motivating academics to continue working on DE. This survey aims to depict DE's recent developments concerning parameter adaptations, parameter settings and mutation strategies, hybridizations, and multi-objective variants in the last twelve years. It also summarizes the problems solved in image processing by DE and its variants.

Improved Dwarf Mongoose Optimization for Constrained Engineering Design Problems.

This paper proposes a modified version of the Dwarf Mongoose Optimization Algorithm (IDMO) for constrained engineering design problems. This optimization technique modifies the base algorithm (DMO) in three simple but effective ways. First, the alpha selection in IDMO differs from the DMO, where evaluating the probability value of each fitness is just a computational overhead and contributes nothing to the quality of the alpha or other group members. The fittest dwarf mongoose is selected as the alpha, and a new operator ω is introduced, which controls the alpha movement, thereby enhancing the exploration ability and exploitability of the IDMO. Second, the scout group movements are modified by randomization to introduce diversity in the search process and explore unvisited areas. Finally, the babysitter's exchange criterium is modified such that once the criterium is met, the babysitters that are exchanged interact with the dwarf mongoose exchanging them to gain information about food sources and sleeping mounds, which could result in better-fitted mongooses instead of initializing them afresh as done in DMO, then the counter is reset to zero. The proposed IDMO was used to solve the classical and CEC 2020 benchmark functions and 12 continuous/discrete engineering optimization problems. The performance of the IDMO, using different performance metrics and statistical analysis, is compared with the DMO and eight other existing algorithms. In most cases, the results show that solutions achieved by the IDMO are better than those obtained by the existing algorithms.

Moth Flame Optimization: Theory, Modifications, Hybridizations, and Applications.

The Moth flame optimization (MFO) algorithm belongs to the swarm intelligence family and is applied to solve complex real-world optimization problems in numerous domains. MFO and its variants are easy to understand and simple to operate. However, these algorithms have successfully solved optimization problems in different areas such as power and energy systems, engineering design, economic dispatch, image processing, and medical applications. A comprehensive review of MFO variants is presented in this context, including the classic version, binary types, modified versions, hybrid versions, multi-objective versions, and application part of the MFO algorithm in various sectors. Finally, the evaluation of the MFO algorithm is presented to measure its performance compared to other algorithms. The main focus of this literature is to present a survey and review the MFO and its applications. Also, the concluding remark section discusses some possible future research directions of the MFO algorithm and its variants.

Advanced dwarf mongoose optimization for solving CEC 2011 and CEC 2017 benchmark problems.

This paper proposes an improvement to the dwarf mongoose optimization (DMO) algorithm called the advanced dwarf mongoose optimization (ADMO) algorithm. The improvement goal is to solve the low convergence rate limitation of the DMO. This situation arises when the initial solutions are close to the optimal global solution; the subsequent value of the alpha must be small for the DMO to converge towards a better solution. The proposed improvement incorporates other social behavior of the dwarf mongoose, namely, the predation and mound protection and the reproductive and group splitting behavior to enhance the exploration and exploitation ability of the DMO. The ADMO also modifies the lifestyle of the alpha and subordinate group and the foraging and seminomadic behavior of the DMO. The proposed ADMO was used to solve the congress on evolutionary computation (CEC) 2011 and 2017 benchmark functions, consisting of 30 classical and hybrid composite problems and 22 real-world optimization problems. The performance of the ADMO, using different performance metrics and statistical analysis, is compared with the DMO and seven other existing algorithms. In most cases, the results show that solutions achieved by the ADMO are better than the solution obtained by the existing algorithms.

Binary dwarf mongoose optimizer for solving high-dimensional feature selection problems.

Selecting appropriate feature subsets is a vital task in machine learning. Its main goal is to remove noisy, irrelevant, and redundant feature subsets that could negatively impact the learning model's accuracy and improve classification performance without information loss. Therefore, more advanced optimization methods have been employed to locate the optimal subset of features. This paper presents a binary version of the dwarf mongoose optimization called the BDMO algorithm to solve the high-dimensional feature selection problem. The effectiveness of this approach was validated using 18 high-dimensional datasets from the Arizona State University feature selection repository and compared the efficacy of the BDMO with other well-known feature selection techniques in the literature. The results show that the BDMO outperforms other methods producing the least average fitness value in 14 out of 18 datasets which means that it achieved 77.77% on the overall best fitness values. The result also shows BDMO demonstrating stability by returning the least standard deviation (SD) value in 13 of 18 datasets (72.22%). Furthermore, the study achieved higher validation accuracy in 15 of the 18 datasets (83.33%) over other methods. The proposed approach also yielded the highest validation accuracy attainable in the COIL20 and Leukemia datasets which vividly portray the superiority of the BDMO.

Immunity-based Ebola optimization search algorithm for minimization of feature extraction with reduction in digital mammography using CNN models.

Feature classification in digital medical images like mammography presents an optimization problem which researchers often neglect. The use of a convolutional neural network (CNN) in feature extraction and classification has been widely reported in the literature to have achieved outstanding performance and acceptance in the disease detection procedure. However, little emphasis is placed on ensuring that only discriminant features extracted by the convolutional operations are passed on to the classifier, to avoid bottlenecking the classification operation. Unfortunately, since this has been left unaddressed, a subtle performance impairment has resulted from this omission. Therefore, this study is devoted to addressing these drawbacks using a metaheuristic algorithm to optimize the number of features extracted by the CNN, so that suggestive features are applied for the classification process. To achieve this, a new variant of the Ebola-based optimization algorithm is proposed, based on the population immunity concept and the use of a chaos mapping initialization strategy. The resulting algorithm, called the immunity-based Ebola optimization search algorithm (IEOSA), is applied to the optimization problem addressed in the study. The optimized features represent the output from the IEOSA, which receives the noisy and unfiltered detected features from the convolutional process as input. An exhaustive evaluation of the IEOSA was carried out using classical and IEEE CEC benchmarked functions. A comparative analysis of the performance of IEOSA is presented, with some recent optimization algorithms. The experimental result showed that IEOSA performed well on all the tested benchmark functions. Furthermore, IEOSA was then applied to solve the feature enhancement and selection problem in CNN for better prediction of breast cancer in digital mammography. The classification accuracy returned by the IEOSA method showed that the new approach improved the classification process on detected features when using CNN models.

A hybrid binary dwarf mongoose optimization algorithm with simulated annealing for feature selection on high dimensional multi-class datasets.

The dwarf mongoose optimization (DMO) algorithm developed in 2022 was applied to solve continuous mechanical engineering design problems with a considerable balance of the exploration and exploitation phases as a metaheuristic approach. Still, the DMO is restricted in its exploitation phase, somewhat hindering the algorithm's optimal performance. In this paper, we proposed a new hybrid method called the BDMSAO, which combines the binary variants of the DMO (or BDMO) and simulated annealing (SA) algorithm. In the modelling and implementation of the hybrid BDMSAO algorithm, the BDMO is employed and used as the global search method and the simulated annealing (SA) as the local search component to enhance the limited exploitative mechanism of the BDMO. The new hybrid algorithm was evaluated using eighteen (18) UCI machine learning datasets of low and medium dimensions. The BDMSAO was also tested using three high-dimensional medical datasets to assess its robustness. The results showed the efficacy of the BDMSAO in solving challenging feature selection problems on varying datasets dimensions and its outperformance over ten other methods in the study. Specifically, the BDMSAO achieved an overall result of 61.11% in producing the highest classification accuracy possible and getting 100% accuracy on 9 of 18 datasets. It also yielded the maximum accuracy obtainable on the three high-dimensional datasets utilized while achieving competitive performance regarding the number of features selected.

Multiclass feature selection with metaheuristic optimization algorithms: a review.

Selecting relevant feature subsets is vital in machine learning, and multiclass feature selection is harder to perform since most classifications are binary. The feature selection problem aims at reducing the feature set dimension while maintaining the performance model accuracy. Datasets can be classified using various methods. Nevertheless, metaheuristic algorithms attract substantial attention to solving different problems in optimization. For this reason, this paper presents a systematic survey of literature for solving multiclass feature selection problems utilizing metaheuristic algorithms that can assist classifiers selects optima or near optima features faster and more accurately. Metaheuristic algorithms have also been presented in four primary behavior-based categories, i.e., evolutionary-based, swarm-intelligence-based, physics-based, and human-based, even though some literature works presented more categorization. Further, lists of metaheuristic algorithms were introduced in the categories mentioned. In finding the solution to issues related to multiclass feature selection, only articles on metaheuristic algorithms used for multiclass feature selection problems from the year 2000 to 2022 were reviewed about their different categories and detailed descriptions. We considered some application areas for some of the metaheuristic algorithms applied for multiclass feature selection with their variations. Popular multiclass classifiers for feature selection were also examined. Moreover, we also presented the challenges of metaheuristic algorithms for feature selection, and we identified gaps for further research studies.

Boosting k-means clustering with symbiotic organisms search for automatic clustering problems.

Kmeans clustering algorithm is an iterative unsupervised learning algorithm that tries to partition the given dataset into k pre-defined distinct non-overlapping clusters where each data point belongs to only one group. However, its performance is affected by its sensitivity to the initial cluster centroids with the possibility of convergence into local optimum and specification of cluster number as the input parameter. Recently, the hybridization of metaheuristics algorithms with the K-Means algorithm has been explored to address these problems and effectively improve the algorithm's performance. Nonetheless, most metaheuristics algorithms require rigorous parameter tunning to achieve an optimum result. This paper proposes a hybrid clustering method that combines the well-known symbiotic organisms search algorithm with K-Means using the SOS as a global search metaheuristic for generating the optimum initial cluster centroids for the K-Means. The SOS algorithm is more of a parameter-free metaheuristic with excellent search quality that only requires initialising a single control parameter. The performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated by comparing it with the classical SOS, classical K-means and other existing hybrids clustering algorithms on eleven (11) UCI Machine Learning Repository datasets and one artificial dataset. The results from the extensive computational experimentation show improved performance of the hybrid SOSK-Means for solving automatic clustering compared to the standard K-Means, symbiotic organisms search clustering methods and other hybrid clustering approaches.

Abnormality classification and localization using dual-branch whole-region-based CNN model with histopathological images.

The task of classification and localization with detecting abnormalities in medical images is considered very challenging. Computer-aided systems have been widely employed to address this issue, and the proliferation of deep learning network architectures is proof of the outstanding performance reported in the literature. However, localizing abnormalities in regions of images that can support the confidence of classification continues to attract research interest. The difficulty of using digital histopathology images for this task is another drawback, which needs high-level deep learning models to address the situation. Successful pathology localization automation will support automatic acquisition planning and post-imaging analysis. In this paper, we address issues related to the combination of classification with image localization and detection through a dual branch deep learning framework that uses two different configurations of convolutional neural networks (CNN) architectures. Whole-image based CNN (WCNN) and region-based CNN (RCNN) architectures are systematically combined to classify and localize abnormalities in samples. A multi-class classification and localization of abnormalities are achieved using the method with no annotation-dependent images. In addition, seamless confidence and explanation mechanism is provided so that outcomes from WCNN and RCNN are mapped together for further analysis. Using images from both BACH and BreakHis databases, an exhaustive set of experiments was carried out to validate the performance of the proposed method in achieving classification and localization simultaneously. Obtained results showed that the system achieved a classification accuracy of 97.08%, a localization accuracy of 94%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.10 for classification. Further findings from this study revealed that a multi-neural network approach could provide a suitable method for addressing the combinatorial problem of classification and localization anomalies in digital medical images. Lastly, the study's outcome offers means for automating the annotation of histopathology images and the support for human pathologists in locating abnormalities.

A generative adversarial network for synthetization of regions of interest based on digital mammograms.

Deep learning (DL) models are becoming pervasive and applicable to computer vision, image processing, and synthesis problems. The performance of these models is often improved through architectural configuration, tweaks, the use of enormous training data, and skillful selection of hyperparameters. The application of deep learning models to medical image processing has yielded interesting performance, capable of correctly detecting abnormalities in medical digital images, making them surpass human physicians. However, advancing research in this domain largely relies on the availability of training datasets. These datasets are sometimes not publicly accessible, insufficient for training, and may also be characterized by a class imbalance among samples. As a result, inadequate training samples and difficulty in accessing new datasets for training deep learning models limit performance and research into new domains. Hence, generative adversarial networks (GANs) have been proposed to mediate this gap by synthesizing data similar to real sample images. However, we observed that benchmark datasets with regions of interest (ROIs) for characterizing abnormalities in breast cancer using digital mammography do not contain sufficient data with a fair distribution of all cases of abnormalities. For instance, the architectural distortion and breast asymmetry in digital mammograms are sparsely distributed across most publicly available datasets. This paper proposes a GAN model, named ROImammoGAN, which synthesizes ROI-based digital mammograms. Our approach involves the design of a GAN model consisting of both a generator and a discriminator to learn a hierarchy of representations for abnormalities in digital mammograms. Attention is given to architectural distortion, asymmetry, mass, and microcalcification abnormalities so that training distinctively learns the features of each abnormality and generates sufficient images for each category. The proposed GAN model was applied to MIAS datasets, and the performance evaluation yielded a competitive accuracy for the synthesized samples. In addition, the quality of the images generated was also evaluated using PSNR, SSIM, FSIM, BRISQUE, PQUE, NIQUE, FID, and geometry scores. The results showed that ROImammoGAN performed competitively with state-of-the-art GANs. The outcome of this study is a model for augmenting CNN models with ROI-centric image samples for the characterization of abnormalities in breast images.

A novel wavelet decomposition and transformation convolutional neural network with data augmentation for breast cancer detection using digital mammogram.

Research in deep learning (DL) has continued to provide significant solutions to the challenges of detecting breast cancer in digital images. Image preprocessing methods and architecture enhancement techniques have been proposed to improve the performance of DL models such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs). For instance, the wavelet decomposition function has been used for image feature extraction in CNNs due to its strong compactness. Additionally, CNN architectures have been optimized to improve the process of feature detection to support the classification process. However, these approaches still lack completeness, as no mechanism exists to discriminate features to be enhanced and features to be eliminated for feature enhancement. More so, no studies have approached the use of wavelet transform to restructure CNN architectures to improve the detection of discriminant features in digital mammography for increased classification accuracy. Therefore, this study addresses these problems through wavelet-CNN-wavelet architecture. The approach presented in this paper combines seam carving and wavelet decomposition algorithms for image preprocessing to find discriminative features. These features are passed as input to a CNN-wavelet structure that uses the new wavelet transformation function proposed in this paper. The CNN-wavelet architecture applied layers of wavelet transform and reduced feature maps to obtain features suggestive of abnormalities that support the classification process. Meanwhile, we synthesized image samples with architectural distortion using a generative adversarial network (GAN) model to argue for their training datasets' insufficiency. Experimentation of the proposed method was carried out using DDSM + CBIS and MIAS datasets. The results obtained showed that the new method improved the classification accuracy and lowered the loss function values. The study's findings demonstrate the usefulness of the wavelet transform function in restructuring CNN architectures for performance enhancement in detecting abnormalities leading to breast cancer in digital mammography.