Understanding skin color bias in deep learning-based skin lesion segmentation.

Journal: Computer methods and programs in biomedicine
Published Date:

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The field of dermatological image analysis using deep neural networks includes the semantic segmentation of skin lesions, pivotal for lesion analysis, pathology inference, and diagnoses. While biases in neural network-based dermatoscopic image classification against darker skin tones due to dataset imbalance and contrast disparities are acknowledged, a comprehensive exploration of skin color bias in lesion segmentation models is lacking. It is imperative to address and understand the biases in these models.

Authors

  • Marin Benčević
    Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, J. J. Strossmayer University, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
  • Marija Habijan
    Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology Osijek, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
  • Irena Galić
    Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, J. J. Strossmayer University, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
  • Danilo Babin
  • Aleksandra Pižurica
    TELIN-GAIM, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.