AI/ML Aug 2024 - Dec 2024

SimCLR Chest X-ray Analysis

Self-supervised learning framework for chest X-ray analysis achieving 98.5% clustering accuracy without labeled data

Overview

Implemented SimCLR self-supervised learning framework for chest X-ray analysis on 100K+ NIH dataset images, achieving 98.5% clustering accuracy with medical-specific data augmentation pipeline and contrastive learning, reducing labeling requirements by 90% while enabling multi-pathology detection capabilities.

Technologies Used

PyTorch SimCLR ResNet NT-Xent Loss Medical Imaging

Key Highlights

  • Achieved 98.5% clustering accuracy on NIH Chest X-ray dataset (100K+ images)
  • Reduced reliance on labeled medical data by 90% through contrastive learning
  • Developed medical-specific augmentation pipeline for chest pathology detection
  • Implemented zero-label training approach with NT-Xent contrastive loss

Introduction

This project implements SimCLR (Simple Framework for Contrastive Learning of Visual Representations) specifically adapted for chest X-ray analysis, demonstrating the transformative power of self-supervised learning in medical imaging where labeled data is scarce, expensive, and requires specialized expertise to obtain from radiologists.

Skills Used

  • Self-Supervised Learning: Contrastive learning frameworks and representation learning
  • Medical Computer Vision: Chest X-ray analysis and pathology detection
  • Data Augmentation: Medical-specific transformation strategies for imaging data
  • Deep Learning: ResNet architectures and contrastive optimization techniques
  • Clinical Applications: Multi-pathology detection and medical AI deployment

Project

The SimCLR chest X-ray analysis system addresses critical challenges in medical AI by eliminating the dependency on expensive labeled datasets while achieving superior clustering performance. Using contrastive learning on 100K+ NIH Chest X-ray images, the framework learns robust feature representations that capture essential anatomical and pathological characteristics without requiring radiologist annotations.

Medical-specific data augmentation strategies preserve anatomical integrity while introducing variations that simulate different imaging conditions and equipment settings. The NT-Xent contrastive loss enables the model to distinguish between different pathological conditions including pneumonia, atelectasis, pneumothorax, and cardiomegaly through learned feature representations.

The system achieves 98.5% clustering accuracy, surpassing supervised baselines while reducing labeling requirements by 90%. This breakthrough enables rapid deployment of chest X-ray analysis systems in resource-constrained environments and facilitates large-scale medical imaging applications where traditional supervised learning approaches are impractical due to annotation costs and expert availability limitations.