Machine Learning in Detection and Classification of Leukemia Using Smear Blood Images: A Systematic Review

Introduction. The early detection and diagnosis of leukemia, i.e., the precise differentiation of malignant leukocytes with minimum costs in the early stages of the disease, is a major problem in the domain of disease diagnosis. Despite the high prevalence of leukemia, there is a shortage of flow cytometry equipment, and the methods available at laboratory diagnostic centers are time-consuming. Motivated by the capabilities of machine learning (machine learning (ML)) in disease diagnosis, the present systematic review was conducted to review the studies aiming to discover and classify leukemia by using machine learning. Methods. A systematic search in four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect) and Google Scholar was performed via a search strategy using Machine Learning (ML), leukemia, peripheral blood smear (PBS) image, detection, diagnosis, and classification as the keywords. Initially, 116 articles were retrieved. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 16 articles remained as the population of the study. Results. This review study presents a comprehensive and systematic view of the status of all published ML-based leukemia detection and classification models that process PBS images. The average accuracy of the ML methods applied in PBS image analysis to detect leukemia was >97%, indicating that the use of ML could lead to extraordinary outcomes in leukemia detection from PBS images. Among all ML techniques, deep learning (DL) achieved higher precision and sensitivity in detecting different cases of leukemia, compared to its precedents. ML has many applications in analyzing different types of leukemia images, but the use of ML algorithms to detect acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has attracted the greatest attention in the fields of hematology and artificial intelligence. Conclusion. Using the ML method to process leukemia smear images can improve accuracy, reduce diagnosis time, and provide faster, cheaper, and safer diagnostic services. In addition to the current diagnostic methods, clinical and laboratory experts can also adopt ML methods in laboratory applications and tools.