Automatic Multilabel Classification of Multiple Fundus Diseases Based on Convolutional Neural Network With Squeeze-and-Excitation Attention

PURPOSE: Automatic multilabel classification of multiple fundus diseases is of importance for ophthalmologists. This study aims to design an effective multilabel classification model that can automatically classify multiple fundus diseases based on color fundus images. METHODS: We proposed a multilabel fundus disease classification model based on a convolutional neural network to classify normal and seven categories of common fundus diseases. Specifically, an attention mechanism was introduced into the network to further extract information features from color fundus images. The fundus images with eight categories of labels were applied to train, validate, and test our model. We employed the validation accuracy, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and F1-score as performance metrics to evaluate our model. RESULTS: Our proposed model achieved better performance with a validation accuracy of 94.27%, an AUC of 85.80%, and an F1-score of 86.08%, compared to two state-of-the-art models. Most important, the number of training parameters has dramatically dropped by three and eight times compared to the two state-of-the-art models. CONCLUSIONS: This model can automatically classify multiple fundus diseases with not only excellent accuracy, AUC, and F1-score but also significantly fewer training parameters and lower computational cost, providing a reliable assistant in clinical screening. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: The proposed model can be widely applied in large-scale multiple fundus disease screening, helping to create more efficient diagnostics in primary care settings.