Cascaded Deep Learning Neural Network for Automated Liver Steatosis Diagnosis Using Ultrasound Images

Diagnosing liver steatosis is an essential precaution for detecting hepatocirrhosis and liver cancer in the early stages. However, automatic diagnosis of liver steatosis from ultrasound (US) images remains challenging due to poor visual quality from various origins, such as speckle noise and blurring. In this paper, we propose a fully automated liver steatosis prediction model using three deep learning neural networks. As a result, liver steatosis can be automatically detected with high accuracy and precision. First, transfer learning is used for semantically segmenting the liver and kidney (L-K) on parasagittal US images, and then cropping the L-K area from the original US images. The second neural network also involves semantic segmentation by checking the presence of a ring that is typically located around the kidney and cropping of the L-K area from the original US images. These cropped L-K areas are inputted to the final neural network, SteatosisNet, in order to grade the severity of fatty liver disease. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model can predict fatty liver disease with the sensitivity of 99.78%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100%, NPV of 99.83%, and diagnostic accuracy of 99.91%, which is comparable to the common results annotated by medical experts.