Breast lesion classification based on ultrasonic radio-frequency signals using convolutional neural networks

Abstract We propose a novel approach to breast mass classification based on deep learning models that utilize raw radio-frequency (RF) ultrasound (US) signals. US images, typically displayed by US scanners and used to develop computer-aided diagnosis systems, are reconstructed using raw RF data. However, information related to physical properties of tissues present in RF signals is partially lost due to the irreversible compression necessary to make raw data readable to the human eye. To utilize the information present in raw US data, we develop deep learning models that can automatically process small 2D patches of RF signals and their amplitude samples. We compare our approach with classification method based on the Nakagami parameter, a widely used quantitative US technique utilizing RF data amplitude samples. Our better performing deep learning model, trained using RF signals and their envelope samples, achieved good classification performance, with the area under the receiver attaining operating characteristic curve (AUC) and balanced accuracy of 0.772 and 0.710, respectively. The proposed method significantly outperformed the Nakagami parameter-based classifier, which achieved AUC and accuracy of 0.64 and 0.611, respectively. The developed deep learning models were used to generate parametric maps illustrating the level of mass malignancy. Our study presents the feasibility of using RF data for the development of deep learning breast mass classification models.