MDFI: Multi-CNN Decision Feature Integration for Diagnosis of Cervical Precancerous Lesions

Colposcopy is an essential medical examination that mainly through visual inspection for cervical epithelial tissue to preventing cervical cancer. However, screening by artificial vision has the problems of missed diagnosis, low efficiency, and diversity. This paper proposes a deep learning-based method using multi-CNN decision feature integration for classification and diagnosis of cervical lesions. The proposed method first uses the k-means algorithm to aggregate training data into specific classes in data preprocessing and then trained in cross-validation to improve the generalization ability of the model. Subsequently, two kinds of CNN are separately fine-tuned based on the transfer learning, and then XGBoost algorithm is used to integrate the different CNN decision results for optimizing the final prediction. Two integration ways for decision features (named inner-model integration and outer-model integration) are proposed to embody multi-feature integration from the data level and the model structural level. Simultaneously, two specific integration strategies (inner-to-outer and outer-to-inner) are designed for as the final output based on the combination of the two ways. Experimental results show that the K-means data preprocessing method can improve the training of neural networks, and the proposed multi-decision feature fusion strategy can better obtain the results of computer-aided diagnosis that meet the needs of clinical diagnosis.