Investigation of Appropriate Scaling of Networks and Images for Convolutional Neural Network-Based Nerve Detection in Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Blocks.

Journal: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
PMID:

Abstract

Ultrasound imaging is an essential tool in anesthesiology, particularly for ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks (US-PNBs). However, challenges such as speckle noise, acoustic shadows, and variability in nerve appearance complicate the accurate localization of nerve tissues. To address this issue, this study introduces a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), specifically Scaled-YOLOv4, and investigates an appropriate network model and input image scaling for nerve detection on ultrasound images. Utilizing two datasets, a public dataset and an original dataset, we evaluated the effects of model scale and input image size on detection performance. Our findings reveal that smaller input images and larger model scales significantly improve detection accuracy. The optimal configuration of model size and input image size not only achieved high detection accuracy but also demonstrated real-time processing capabilities.

Authors

  • Takaaki Sugino
    Department of Biomedical Information, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Shinya Onogi
    Department of Biomedical Informatics, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 101-0062, Japan.
  • Rieko Oishi
    Department of Anesthesiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan.
  • Chie Hanayama
    Department of Anesthesiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan.
  • Satoki Inoue
    Department of Anesthesiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan.
  • Shinjiro Ishida
    TCC Media Lab Co., Ltd., Tokyo 192-0152, Japan.
  • Yuhang Yao
    IOT SOFT Co., Ltd., Tokyo 103-0023, Japan.
  • Nobuhiro Ogasawara
    TCC Media Lab Co., Ltd., Tokyo 192-0152, Japan.
  • Masahiro Murakawa
    Department of Intelligent Interaction Technologies, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8573, Japan.
  • Yoshikazu Nakajima
    Kansai Molecular Diagnosis Network for CNS Tumors, Osaka, 540-0006, Japan.