Fine-tuned deep learning models for early detection and classification of kidney conditions in CT imaging

The kidney plays a vital role in maintaining homeostasis, but lifestyle factors and diseases can lead to kidney failures. Early detection of kidney disease is crucial for effective intervention, often challenging due to unnoticeable symptoms in the initial stages. Computed tomography (CT) imaging aids specialists in detecting various kidney conditions. The research focuses on classifying CT images of cysts, normal states, stones, and tumors using a hyperparameter fine-tuned approach with convolutional neural networks (CNNs), VGG16, ResNet50, CNNAlexnet, and InceptionV3 transfer learning models. It introduces an innovative methodology that integrates finely tuned transfer learning, advanced image processing, and hyperparameter optimization to enhance the accuracy of kidney tumor classification. By applying these sophisticated techniques, the study aims to significantly improve diagnostic precision and reliability in identifying various kidney conditions, ultimately contributing to better patient outcomes in medical imaging. The methodology implements image-processing techniques to enhance classification accuracy. Feature maps are derived through data normalization and augmentation (zoom, rotation, shear, brightness adjustment, horizontal/vertical flip). Watershed segmentation and Otsu's binarization thresholding further refine the feature maps, which are optimized and combined using the relief method. Wide neural network classifiers are employed, achieving the highest accuracy of 99.96% across models. This performance positions the proposed approach as a high-performance solution for automatic and accurate kidney CT image classification, significantly advancing medical imaging and diagnostics. The research addresses the pressing need for early kidney disease detection using an innovative methodology, highlighting the proposed approach's capability to enhance medical imaging and diagnostic capabilities.