Using the Regression Slope of Training Loss to Optimize Chest X-ray Generation in Deep Convolutional Generative...

Diffusion models, variational autoencoders, and generative adversarial networks (GANs) are three common types of generative artificial intelligence models for image generation. Among these, GANs are the most frequently used for medical image generation and are often employed for data augmentation in various studies. However, due to the adversarial nature of GANs, where the generator and discriminator compete against each other, the training process can sometimes end with the model unable to generate meaningful images or even producing noise. This phenomenon is rarely discussed in the literature, and no studies have proposed solutions to address this issue. Such outcomes can introduce significant bias when GANs are used for data augmentation in medical image training. Moreover, GANs often require substantial computational power and storage, adding to the challenges. In this study, we used deep convolutional GANs for chest X-ray generation, and three typical training outcomes were found. Two scenarios generated meaningful medical images and one failed to produce usable images. By analyzing the loss history during training, we observed that the regression line of the overall losses tends to diverge slowly. After excluding outlier losses, we found that the slope of the regression line within the stable loss segment indicates the optimal point to terminate training, ensuring the generation of meaningful medical images.