NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer

Abstract Liver cancer is a malignant tumor with high incidence and mortality rates. Computed tomography is a key imaging modality for clinical diagnosis but faces challenges such as subtle intra-class variations and the inefficiency of manual interpretation. Traditional diagnostic approaches often l...

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Main Authors: Qing Ye, Minghao Luo, Jing Zhou, Chunlei Cheng, Lin Peng, Jia Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-07-01
Series:Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-025-00162-8
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author Qing Ye
Minghao Luo
Jing Zhou
Chunlei Cheng
Lin Peng
Jia Wu
author_facet Qing Ye
Minghao Luo
Jing Zhou
Chunlei Cheng
Lin Peng
Jia Wu
author_sort Qing Ye
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Liver cancer is a malignant tumor with high incidence and mortality rates. Computed tomography is a key imaging modality for clinical diagnosis but faces challenges such as subtle intra-class variations and the inefficiency of manual interpretation. Traditional diagnostic approaches often lack generalizability and effective feature extraction, increasing the risk of misdiagnosis. While deep learning models like ResUNet have improved diagnostic performance, issues such as information loss and inaccurate tumor boundary segmentation persist. To address these challenges, this study proposes NMD-FusionNet, a deep learning-based framework for liver cancer image segmentation and diagnosis. The framework includes a three-stage pipeline: first, a refined non-local means filtering algorithm is employed for pre-screening, discarding over 80% of non-diagnostic images using adaptive thresholding; second, a multimodal image fusion method integrates multi-phase, multi-source liver cancer image data through multi-scale decomposition and precise fusion rules to reduce noise and motion artifacts; third, a dual-path DconnNet segmentation network is constructed, incorporating a directional excitation module in the encoder and a spatial awareness unit in the decoder, guided by a boundary-constrained loss function to enhance segmentation accuracy. Evaluated on over 2,000 liver cancer images from the Second People's Hospital of Huaihua, NMD-FusionNet achieves a tumor segmentation Intersection over Union (IoU) of 83.9%, representing an 8.7% improvement over ResUNet and demonstrating superior sensitivity. This work provides a reliable computer-aided diagnostic tool for radiologists and shows strong potential for clinical application, particularly in resource-limited healthcare settings.
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issn 1319-1578
2213-1248
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spelling doaj-art-b6eebc67c3c8445bbea061e805d7dcac2025-08-20T03:46:20ZengSpringerJournal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences1319-15782213-12482025-07-0137612110.1007/s44443-025-00162-8NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancerQing Ye0Minghao Luo1Jing Zhou2Chunlei Cheng3Lin Peng4Jia Wu5School of Computer Science, Jiangxi University of Chinese MedicineSchool of Computer Science, Jiangxi University of Chinese MedicineHunan University of Medicine General HospitalSchool of Computer Science, Jiangxi University of Chinese MedicineSchool of Computer Science, Jiangxi University of Chinese MedicineSchool of Computer Science, Jiangxi University of Chinese MedicineAbstract Liver cancer is a malignant tumor with high incidence and mortality rates. Computed tomography is a key imaging modality for clinical diagnosis but faces challenges such as subtle intra-class variations and the inefficiency of manual interpretation. Traditional diagnostic approaches often lack generalizability and effective feature extraction, increasing the risk of misdiagnosis. While deep learning models like ResUNet have improved diagnostic performance, issues such as information loss and inaccurate tumor boundary segmentation persist. To address these challenges, this study proposes NMD-FusionNet, a deep learning-based framework for liver cancer image segmentation and diagnosis. The framework includes a three-stage pipeline: first, a refined non-local means filtering algorithm is employed for pre-screening, discarding over 80% of non-diagnostic images using adaptive thresholding; second, a multimodal image fusion method integrates multi-phase, multi-source liver cancer image data through multi-scale decomposition and precise fusion rules to reduce noise and motion artifacts; third, a dual-path DconnNet segmentation network is constructed, incorporating a directional excitation module in the encoder and a spatial awareness unit in the decoder, guided by a boundary-constrained loss function to enhance segmentation accuracy. Evaluated on over 2,000 liver cancer images from the Second People's Hospital of Huaihua, NMD-FusionNet achieves a tumor segmentation Intersection over Union (IoU) of 83.9%, representing an 8.7% improvement over ResUNet and demonstrating superior sensitivity. This work provides a reliable computer-aided diagnostic tool for radiologists and shows strong potential for clinical application, particularly in resource-limited healthcare settings.https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-025-00162-8Liver cancerMedical imagingImage fusionSemantic segmentation
spellingShingle Qing Ye
Minghao Luo
Jing Zhou
Chunlei Cheng
Lin Peng
Jia Wu
NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer
Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences
Liver cancer
Medical imaging
Image fusion
Semantic segmentation
title NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer
title_full NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer
title_fullStr NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer
title_full_unstemmed NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer
title_short NMD-FusionNet: a multimodal fusion-based medical imaging-assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer
title_sort nmd fusionnet a multimodal fusion based medical imaging assisted diagnostic model for liver cancer
topic Liver cancer
Medical imaging
Image fusion
Semantic segmentation
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-025-00162-8
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AT minghaoluo nmdfusionnetamultimodalfusionbasedmedicalimagingassisteddiagnosticmodelforlivercancer
AT jingzhou nmdfusionnetamultimodalfusionbasedmedicalimagingassisteddiagnosticmodelforlivercancer
AT chunleicheng nmdfusionnetamultimodalfusionbasedmedicalimagingassisteddiagnosticmodelforlivercancer
AT linpeng nmdfusionnetamultimodalfusionbasedmedicalimagingassisteddiagnosticmodelforlivercancer
AT jiawu nmdfusionnetamultimodalfusionbasedmedicalimagingassisteddiagnosticmodelforlivercancer