Classification of Shoulder X-ray Images with Deep Learning Ensemble Models

Fractures occur in the shoulder area, which has a wider range of motion than other joints in the body, for various reasons. To diagnose these fractures, data gathered from X-radiation (X-ray), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or computed tomography (CT) are used. This study aims to help physicians by classifying shoulder images taken from X-ray devices as fracture/non-fracture with artificial intelligence. For this purpose, the performances of 26 deep learning-based pre-trained models in the detection of shoulder fractures were evaluated on the musculoskeletal radiographs (MURA) dataset, and two ensemble learning models (EL1 and EL2) were developed. The pre-trained models used are ResNet, ResNeXt, DenseNet, VGG, Inception, MobileNet, and their spinal fully connected (Spinal FC) versions. In the EL1 and EL2 models developed using pre-trained models with the best performance, test accuracy was 0.8455, 0.8472, Cohen's kappa was 0.6907, 0.6942 and the area that was related with fracture class under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was 0.8862, 0.8695. As a result of 28 different classifications in total, the highest test accuracy and Cohen's kappa values were obtained in the EL2 model, and the highest AUC value was obtained in the EL1 model.