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Neuwieser, Hannah ; Jami, Naga Venkata Sai Jitin ; Meier, Robert Johannes ; Liebsch, Gregor ; Felthaus, Oliver ; Klein, Silvan ; Schreml, Stephan ; Berneburg, Mark ; Prantl, Lukas ; Leutheuser, Heike ; Kempa, Sally

Interpreting Venous and Arterial Ulcer Images Through the Grad-CAM Lens: Insights and Implications in CNN-Based Wound Image Classification

Neuwieser, Hannah, Jami, Naga Venkata Sai Jitin, Meier, Robert Johannes, Liebsch, Gregor, Felthaus, Oliver , Klein, Silvan , Schreml, Stephan , Berneburg, Mark , Prantl, Lukas , Leutheuser, Heike and Kempa, Sally (2025) Interpreting Venous and Arterial Ulcer Images Through the Grad-CAM Lens: Insights and Implications in CNN-Based Wound Image Classification. Diagnostics 15 (17), p. 2184.

Date of publication of this fulltext: 03 Sep 2025 10:19
Article
DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.77640


Abstract

Background/Objectives: Chronic wounds of the lower extremities, particularly arterial and venous ulcers, represent a significant and costly challenge in medical care. To assist in differential diagnosis, we aim to evaluate various advanced deep-learning models for classifying arterial and venous ulcers and visualize their decision-making processes. Methods: A retrospective dataset of 607 images ...

Background/Objectives: Chronic wounds of the lower extremities, particularly arterial and venous ulcers, represent a significant and costly challenge in medical care. To assist in differential diagnosis, we aim to evaluate various advanced deep-learning models for classifying arterial and venous ulcers and visualize their decision-making processes. Methods: A retrospective dataset of 607 images (198 arterial and 409 venous ulcers) was used to train five convolutional neural networks: ResNet50, ResNeXt50, ConvNeXt, EfficientNetB2, and EfficientNetV2. Model performance was assessed using accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and ROC-AUC. Grad-CAM was applied to visualize image regions contributing to classification decisions. Results: The models demonstrated high classification performance, with accuracy ranging from 72% (ConvNeXt) to 98% (ResNeXt50). Precision and recall values indicated strong discrimination between arterial and venous ulcers, with EfficientNetV2 achieving the highest precision. Conclusions: AI-assisted classification of venous and arterial ulcers offers a valuable method for enhancing diagnostic efficiency.



Involved Institutions


Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitleDiagnostics
Publisher:MDPI
Volume:15
Number of Issue or Book Chapter:17
Page Range:p. 2184
Date28 August 2025
InstitutionsMedicine > Zentren des Universitätsklinikums Regensburg > Zentrum für Plastische-, Hand- und Wiederherstellungschirurgie
Identification Number
ValueType
10.3390/diagnostics15172184DOI
Keywordsdeep learning; artificial intelligence; wound classification; arterial ulcers; venous ulcers; convolutional neural networks
Dewey Decimal Classification600 Technology > 610 Medical sciences Medicine
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgYes
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-776400
Item ID77640

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