20 Dec 2024Article
Enhancing Post-Surgical Wound Care in Anorectal Diseases: A Comparative Study of Advanced Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) Architectures for Image Classification and Analysis
Qiaolan Zhang 1Zhaobo Chen 2Shunfang Hu 3Xinkun Bao 4
Affiliations
Article Info
1 Department of Anorectal Surgery, Wuhan Tongji Aerospace City Hospital, 430416 Wuhan, Hubei, China
2 Department of Pharmacy, No.1 People’s Hospital of Danjiangkou, 442700 Danjiangkou, Hubei, China
3 Department of Anorectal, Deyang Jingyang District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 618000 Deyang, Sichuan, China
4 Department of Colorectal Surgery, Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, 430071 Wuhan, Hubei, China
Published: 20 Dec 2024
Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
AIM: Anorectal diseases, often requiring surgical intervention and careful post-operative wound management, pose substantial challenges in healthcare. This study presents a novel application of artificial intelligence, specifically machine learning, aimed at improving the classification and analysis of post-surgical wound images. By doing so, it seeks to enhance patient outcomes through personalized and optimized wound care strategies. METHODS: This research utilizes convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and employs three advanced architectures—MobileNet, ResNet50, and Inception-v4—to detect and classify key characteristics of post-surgical wounds, including size, location, severity, and tissue type involved. Additionally, the study integrates Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) technology to provide interpretative insights into the decision-making processes of these algorithms, offering a deeper understanding of model predictions. RESULTS: The effectiveness of the employed CNN architectures was assessed based on accuracy, precision, and recall metrics. The findings demonstrate that Inception-v4, in particular, exhibits superior performance across all evaluated metrics, underscoring its potential in clinical applications. Grad-CAM visualizations further clarified the rationale behind the model's decisions, enhancing the interpretability of the results. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of machine learning technologies in the classification and analysis of wound images represents a significant advancement in medical image analysis and AI-driven healthcare solutions. This research not only enhances the technical capabilities of AI applications in healthcare but also improves the precision of post-operative care in anorectal surgery, ultimately contributing to better treatment outcomes.
Keywords
- machine learning
- wound classification
- anorectal surgery
- convolutional neural network
- performance evaluation