Mam-Incept-Net: a novel inception model for precise interpretation of mammography images

Early diagnosis of breast cancer through periodic screening is a vital ally in the fight for survival. Mammography, recognized as one of the most widely used and cost-effective tools for detecting early signs of asymmetry, calcification, masses, and architectural distortion in breast tissue, plays a significant role in nearly all screening scenarios. However, the interpretation and scoring of mammograms is a complex multi-parameter process that frequently leads to false-positive and false-negative results. This article introduces a new deep-learning-based model that classifies mammograms according to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) assessment categories. The model is trained on a private dataset, intentionally excluding no BI-RADS categories. A novel deep neural network architecture is employed to more accurately classify breasts, including their boundaries, as regions of interest (ROIs). The ConvNeXt architecture serves as a feature extractor for lower-level features, which are then combined with the layers of a randomly initialized naive inception module to capture higher-level features. Diagnosis is achieved through three experimental tests, yielding accuracy rates ranging from 82.08% to 86.27%. These promising accuracy levels, in comparison to previous studies, can be attributed to a more comprehensive approach to addressing BI-RADS scoring challenges. In addition to pursuing further enhancements in accuracy, future research should consider integrating prior radiology reports to create a more realistic end-to-end computer-aided detection system.