Early Melanoma Detection Based on a Hybrid YOLOv5 and ResNet Technique

Abstract

Skin cancer, specifically melanoma, is a serious health issue that arises from the melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin, the pigment responsible for skin color. With skin cancer on the rise, the timely identification of skin lesions is crucial for effective treatment. However, the similarity between some skin lesions can result in misclassification, which is a significant problem. It is important to note that benign skin lesions are more prevalent than malignant ones, which can lead to overly cautious algorithms and incorrect results. As a solution, researchers are developing computer-assisted diagnostic tools to detect malignant tumors early. First, a new model based on the combination of “you only look once” (YOLOv5) and “ResNet50” is proposed for melanoma detection with its degree using humans against a machine with 10,000 training images (HAM10000). Second, feature maps integrate gradient change, which allows rapid inference, boosts precision, and reduces the number of hyperparameters in the model, making it smaller. Finally, the current YOLOv5 model is changed to obtain the desired outcomes by adding new classes for dermatoscopic images of typical lesions with pigmented skin. The proposed approach improves melanoma detection with a real-time speed of 0.4 MS of non-maximum suppression (NMS) per image. The performance metrics average is 99.0%, 98.6%, 98.8%, 99.5, 98.3%, and 98.7% for the precision, recall, dice similarity coefficient (DSC), accuracy, mean average precision (MAP) from 0.0 to 0.5, and MAP from 0.5 to 0.95, respectively. Compared to current melanoma detection approaches, the provided approach is more efficient in using deep features.