Abstract
Background Kashin-Beck disease (KBD), prevalent in certain regions of the world, primarily affects children and is characterized by joint deformities. Timely screening and accurate diagnosis, heavily reliant on metaphyseal signs in X-rays, are crucial but challenging, especially in regions where specialist availability is scarce. Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnostic technology offers a valuable solution to streamline KBD screening, emphasizing its importance in enhancing diagnostic precision and efficiency. Methods This study developed and compared five deep learning models - KBV16, KBX, KBV19, KBIn, and KBM2 - to assist in diagnosing KBD by analyzing pediatric hand radiographs. We optimized these models with a dataset comprising 22,366 images, encompassing both metaphyseal positive and control groups. The models were trained and validated using Binary Cross-Entropy (BCE) and Accuracy (ACC) metrics. Results The KBV16 model outperformed the others, achieving an accuracy of 0.9563 on the validation set and 0.9535 on the test set. The implementation of data augmentation techniques, along with the meticulous selection of learning rates and batch sizes, significantly enhanced the models' performance. Conclusion This study presented a novel application of deep learning in KBD diagnosis, demonstrating the potential of AI models to enhance diagnostic precision. Notably, the KBV16 model emerged as a powerful tool for early detection of KBD. Future research should concentrate on refining these models for clinical use and integrating them into existing healthcare systems to improve medical services, particularly in medical resource-constrained regions.