Analyzing histopathological images using fused CNN features based on the geometric active contour method for early diagnosis of lung and colon cancer

Lung and colon (LC) cancers are among the most deadly types of cancer, often resulting in death. However, the chances of survival significantly increase with the early detection of these cancers. This study addresses the challenge of early detection of LC tumors, which is crucial for effective treatment. LC cancer is one of the most common tumors that require early detection. However, these tumors appear similar in their early stages, making it challenging for doctors to differentiate between them. To overcome this challenge, we propose an AI-based diagnostic model for detecting LC tumors. Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques have been employed to address this challenge. This study proposes two histopathological image analysis strategies for the early detection of LC cancer. The first strategy involves the diagnosis of LC cancer using decision tree (DT) and random forest (RF) networks with CNN model features, namely ResNet50, DenseNet169, and MobileNet, based on geometric active contour (GAC) and ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms. The second strategy involves the diagnosis of LC cancer using DT and RF classifiers with the features of combined CNN, namely ResNet50-DenseNet169, DenseNet169-MobileNet, DenseNet169-MobileNet, and ResNet50-DenseNet169-MobileNet, based on the GAC and ACO algorithms. All strategies have demonstrated good results for early stage LC cancer detection. The RF network, which utilized the combined features extracted from the ResNet50- MobileNet-DenseNet169 models, demonstrated notable performance with an AUC of 99.7%, sensitivity of 99.72%, accuracy of 99.8%, precision of 99.76%, and specificity of 99.78%.