用扩散模型生成假想病例,让膝骨关节炎诊断更准更可解释。
Diffusion-based Counterfactual Augmentation: Towards Robust and Interpretable Knee Osteoarthritis Grading
- 通过扩散模型在潜空间生成针对性反事实图像。
- 在OAI和MOST数据集上提升多种模型的分类准确率。
- 能可视化微小病变,帮助理解模型决策逻辑。
从X光片自动评估膝骨关节炎(KOA)面临显著阅片者差异和深度学习模型在临界边界处鲁棒性不足的问题。本文提出基于扩散模型的反事实增强框架(DCA),通过导航扩散模型的潜空间(利用随机微分方程,平衡分类器引导的边界驱动力与流形约束),生成目标反事实样本,并采用自校正学习策略,聚焦模型不确定区域进行优化。在公开的Osteoarthritis Initiative(OAI)和Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study(MOST)数据集上,该方法显著提升了多种模型架构的分类性能。此外,该方法通过可视化最小病理变化,揭示了学习到的潜空间拓扑与临床KOA进展知识一致,将模型不确定性转化为有效的训练信号,为构建更精准、可信的自动化诊断系统提供了新路径。代码已开源。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Automated grading of Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) from radiographs is challenged by significant inter-observer variability and the limited robustness of deep learning models, particularly near critical decision boundaries. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a novel framework, Diffusion-based Counterfactual Augmentation (DCA), which enhances model robustness and interpretability by generating targeted counterfactual examples. The method navigates the latent space of a diffusion model using a Stochastic Differential Equation (SDE), governed by balancing a classifier-informed boundary drive with a manifold constraint. The resulting counterfactuals are then used within a self-corrective learning strategy to improve the classifier by focusing on its specific areas of uncertainty. Extensive experiments on the public Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) and Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) datasets demonstrate that this approach significantly improves classification accuracy across multiple model architectures. Furthermore, the method provides interpretability by visualizing minimal pathological changes and revealing that the learned latent space topology aligns with clinical knowledge of KOA progression. The DCA framework effectively converts model uncertainty into a robust training signal, offering a promising pathway to developing more accurate and trustworthy automated diagnostic systems. Our code is available at https://github.com/ZWang78/DCA.
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