Focal Cortical Dysplasia Type II Detection Using Cross Modality Transfer Learning and Grad-CAM in 3D-CNNs for MRI Analysis

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lasagni, Lorenzo, Ciccarone, Antonio, Guerrini, Renzo, Lenge, Matteo, D'incerti, Ludovico
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Lasagni, Lorenzo
Ciccarone, Antonio
Guerrini, Renzo
Lenge, Matteo
D'incerti, Ludovico
author_facet Lasagni, Lorenzo
Ciccarone, Antonio
Guerrini, Renzo
Lenge, Matteo
D'incerti, Ludovico
contents Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type II is a major cause of drug-resistant epilepsy, often curable only by surgery. Despite its clinical importance, the diagnosis of FCD is very difficult in MRI because of subtle abnormalities, leading to misdiagnosis. This study investigates the use of 3D convolutional neural networks (3D-CNNs) for FCD detection, using a dataset of 170 subjects (85 FCD patients and 85 controls) composed of T1-weighted and FLAIR MRI scans. In particular, it investigates the benefits obtained from cross-modality transfer learning and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques, in particular Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM). ResNet architectures (ResNet-18, -34, and -50) were implemented, employing transfer learning strategies that used pre-trained weights from segmentation tasks. Results indicate that transfer learning significantly enhances classification accuracy (up to 80.3%) and interpretability, as measured by a novel Heat-Score metric, which evaluates the model's focus on clinically relevant regions. Improvements in the Heat-Score metric underscore the model's seizure zone localization capabilities, bringing AI predictions and clinical insights closer together. These results highlight the importance of transfer learning, including cross-modality, and XAI in advancing AI-based medical diagnostics, especially for difficult-to-diagnose pathologies such as FCD.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_07775
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Focal Cortical Dysplasia Type II Detection Using Cross Modality Transfer Learning and Grad-CAM in 3D-CNNs for MRI Analysis
Lasagni, Lorenzo
Ciccarone, Antonio
Guerrini, Renzo
Lenge, Matteo
D'incerti, Ludovico
Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Medical Physics
Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type II is a major cause of drug-resistant epilepsy, often curable only by surgery. Despite its clinical importance, the diagnosis of FCD is very difficult in MRI because of subtle abnormalities, leading to misdiagnosis. This study investigates the use of 3D convolutional neural networks (3D-CNNs) for FCD detection, using a dataset of 170 subjects (85 FCD patients and 85 controls) composed of T1-weighted and FLAIR MRI scans. In particular, it investigates the benefits obtained from cross-modality transfer learning and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) techniques, in particular Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM). ResNet architectures (ResNet-18, -34, and -50) were implemented, employing transfer learning strategies that used pre-trained weights from segmentation tasks. Results indicate that transfer learning significantly enhances classification accuracy (up to 80.3%) and interpretability, as measured by a novel Heat-Score metric, which evaluates the model's focus on clinically relevant regions. Improvements in the Heat-Score metric underscore the model's seizure zone localization capabilities, bringing AI predictions and clinical insights closer together. These results highlight the importance of transfer learning, including cross-modality, and XAI in advancing AI-based medical diagnostics, especially for difficult-to-diagnose pathologies such as FCD.
title Focal Cortical Dysplasia Type II Detection Using Cross Modality Transfer Learning and Grad-CAM in 3D-CNNs for MRI Analysis
topic Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.07775