Deep learning-based classification of breast lesions using dynamic ultrasound video

We intended to develop a deep-learning-based classification model based on breast ultrasound dynamic video, then evaluate its diagnostic performance in comparison with the classic model based on ultrasound static image and that of different radiologists.

We collected 1000 breast lesions from 888 patients from May 2020 to December 2021. Each lesion contained two static images and two dynamic videos. We divided these lesions randomly into training, validation, and test sets by the ratio of 7:2:1. Two deep learning (DL) models, namely DL-video and DL-image, were developed based on 3D Resnet-50 and 2D Resnet-50 using 2000 dynamic videos and 2000 static images, respectively. Lesions in the test set were evaluated to compare the diagnostic performance of two models and six radiologists with different seniority.

The area under the curve of the DL-video model was significantly higher than those of the DL-image model (0.969 vs. 0.925, P = 0.0172) and six radiologists (0.969 vs. 0.779-0.912, P < 0.05). All radiologists performed better when evaluating the dynamic videos compared to the static images. Furthermore, radiologists performed better with increased seniority both in reading images and videos.

The DL-video model can discern more detailed spatial and temporal information for accurate classification of breast lesions than the conventional DL-image model and radiologists, and its clinical application can further improve the diagnosis of breast cancer.