HED-Net: a hybrid ensemble deep learning framework for breast ultrasound image classification

Introduction: Breast cancer, one of the most life-threatening diseases that commonly affects women, can be effectively diagnosed using breast ultrasound imaging. A hybrid deep learning based ensemble framework combining the effectiveness of different convolutional neural network models has been proposed for breast ultrasound image classification. Methods: Three distinct deep learning models, namely, EffcientNetB7, DenseNet121, and ConvNeXtTiny, have been independently trained on breast ultrasound image datasets in parallel to capture complementary representations. Local features are extracted using EffcientNetB7 through depthwise separable convolutions, whereas structural details are preserved by DenseNet121 utilizing dense connectivity. Global spatial relationships are modeled using ConvNeXtTiny via large kernel operations. Diverse local, global, and hierarchical features extracted with respect to multiple perspectives are integrated into a high-dimensional unified representation from which non-linear decision boundaries are learned utilizing XGBoost as the feature fusion classifier. Additionally, a soft voting ensemble method averages the predicted probabilities of the individual convolutional network architectures. Results: The model was evaluated using the BUSI dataset, the BUS-UCLM dataset, and the UDIAT dataset. The accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and AUC values obtained on the BUSI data set are 88.46%, 88.49%, 88.46%, 88.45%, and 95.38%, respectively. On the BUS-UCLM dataset, the corresponding values are 90. 51%, 90. 56%, 90. 51%, 90. 51%, and 96. 23%, respectively. The accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and AUC values obtained on the UDIAT dataset are 96.97%, 100.00%, 90.91%, 95.24%, and 99.17%, respectively. The decision-making capability of the model has been highlighted using SHAP and Grad-CAM visualizations, further improving the interpretability and transparency of the model, and making it more robust for breast ultrasound image classification. Discussion: The HED-Net framework exhibits significant potential for clinical application by enhancing diagnostic accuracy and decreasing interpretation time, particularly in resource-limited environments where expert radiologists are in short supply.