ResMIBCU-Net: an encoder-decoder network with residual blocks, modified inverted residual block, and bi-directional ConvLSTM for impacted tooth segmentation in panoramic X-ray images.

OBJECTIVE: Impacted tooth is a common problem that can occur at any age, causing tooth decay, root resorption, and pain in the later stages. In recent years, major advances have been made in medical imaging segmentation using deep convolutional neural network-based networks. In this study, we report on the development of an artificial intelligence system for the automatic identification of impacted tooth from panoramic dental X-ray images.

METHODS: Among existing networks, in medical imaging segmentation, U-Net architectures are widely implemented. In this article, for dental X-ray image segmentation, blocks and convolutional block structures using inverted residual blocks are upgraded by taking advantage of U-Net's network capacity-intensive connections. At the same time, we propose a method for jumping connections in which bi-directional convolution long short-term memory is used instead of a simple connection. Assessment of the proposed artificial intelligence model performance was evaluated with accuracy, F1-score, intersection over union, and recall.

RESULTS: In the proposed method, experimental results are obtained with 99.82% accuracy, 91.59% F1-score, 84.48% intersection over union, and 90.71% recall.

CONCLUSION: Our findings show that our artificial intelligence system could help with future diagnostic support in clinical practice.