Implementation of resource-efficient fetal echocardiography detection algorithms in edge computing

PLoS One. 2024 Sep 23;19(9):e0305250. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305250. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Recent breakthroughs in medical AI have proven the effectiveness of deep learning in fetal echocardiography. However, the limited processing power of edge devices hinders real-time clinical application. We aim to pioneer the future of intelligent echocardiography equipment by enabling real-time recognition and tracking in fetal echocardiography, ultimately assisting medical professionals in their practice. Our study presents the YOLOv5s_emn (Extremely Mini Network) Series, a collection of resource-efficient algorithms for fetal echocardiography detection. Built on the YOLOv5s architecture, these models, through backbone substitution, pruning, and inference optimization, while maintaining high accuracy, the models achieve a significant reduction in size and number of parameters, amounting to only 5%-19% of YOLOv5s. Tested on the NVIDIA Jetson Nano, the YOLOv5s_emn Series demonstrated superior inference speed, being 52.8-125.0 milliseconds per frame(ms/f) faster than YOLOv5s, showcasing their potential for efficient real-time detection in embedded systems.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Deep Learning
  • Echocardiography* / methods
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Pregnancy
  • Ultrasonography, Prenatal / methods

Grants and funding

This work was funded and supported by the key research and development program of Hebei Province "Applied Research on Improving the Quality of Obstetrical Anesthesia Based on Deep Learning" (Project Number: 22377766D). The sponsors had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.