An explainable attention model for cervical precancer risk classification using colposcopic images

Cervical cancer remains a major worldwide health issue, with high morbidity and mortality rates if diagnosed and treated at a later stage. Early identification and risk assessment are crucial for preventive interventions.

This paper presents the Cervix-AID-Net model for classifying cervical precancer risk using still images captured from a DYSIS colposcope. The study designs and evaluates the proposed Cervix-AID-Net model to classify high-risk and low-risk cervical precancer classes. The model comprises a Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) and convolutional layers that extract interpretable and representative features from colposcopic images to distinguish high-risk and low-risk cervical precancer. In addition, the proposed Cervix-AID-Net model integrates gradient class activation maps, Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations, CartoonX, and pixel rate distortion techniques to explain model decisions using output feature maps and input features.

The evaluation using holdout and ten-fold cross-validation techniques yielded classification accuracies of 99.33% and 99.81%, respectively. The analysis revealed that CartoonX provides meticulous explanations for the decision of the Cervix-AID-Net model due to its ability to provide the relevant piecewise smooth part of the image. The effect of Gaussian noise and blur on the input shows that the performance remains unchanged up to Gaussian noise of 3% and blur of 10%, while the performance decreases thereafter. A comparison study of the proposed model's performance with other deep learning approaches highlights the Cervix-AID-Net model's potential as a supplemental tool for increasing the effectiveness of cervical precancer risk assessment.

The proposed method, which incorporates CBAM and explainable artificial intelligence, has the potential to influence the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer. Thus, the proposed framework will help improve patient outcomes and reduce the worldwide burden of this preventable disease.