Improving multi-scale attention networks: Bayesian optimization for segmenting medical images

Abstract

Current deep learning-based image segmentation methods are notable for their use of large number of parameters and extensive computational resources in training. There is a persistent need for more efficient flexible systems without compromising on precision. This work proposes a novel model that combines the best of deep learning and probabilistic machine learning to segment a wide variety of medical image datasets with state-of-the-art accuracy and limited resources. The approach benefits from the introduction of new diverse attention modules that serve multiple purposes including capturing of relevant information at different scales. These proposed attention modules are generic and can potentially be used with other architectures to boost performance. In addition, Bayesian optimization is employed to tune multi-scale weight hyperparameters of the model. The architecture combined with one of the proposed novel attention modules and tuned hyperparameters achieves the best results in segmenting ISIC 2017, LUNGS, NERVE, Skin Lesion and CHEST datasets. Finally, the explainability of the network is analysed by visualizing the feature map learned from the attention modules.