COVID-19 Detection from Chest X-Ray Images Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks with Weights Imprinting Approach

COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed our lives. Chest radiographyhas been used to detect COVID-19. However, the numberof publicly available COVID-19 x-ray images is extremely limited,resulting in a highly imbalanced dataset. This is a challenge whenusing deep learning for classification and detection. In this work, wepropose the use of pre-trained deep Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN) and integrate them with a few-shot learning approach namedimprinted weights. The integrated model is fine tuned to enhancethe capability of detecting COVID-19. The proposed solution thencombines the fine-tuned models using a weighted average ensemblefor achieving an optimal 82% sensitivity to COVID-19. To thebest of authors’ knowledge, the proposed solution is one of the firstto utilize imprinted weights model with weighted average ensemblefor enhancing the model sensitivity to COVID-19.