Multi-Modal and Multi-View Fusion Classifier for Craniosynostosis Diagnosis.

The diagnosis of craniosynostosis, a condition involving the premature fusion of cranial sutures in infants, is essential for ensuring timely treatment and optimal surgical outcomes. Current diagnostic approaches often require CT scans, which expose children to significant radiation risks. To address this, we present a novel deep learning-based model utilizing multi-view X-ray images for craniosynostosis detection. The proposed model integrates advanced multi-view fusion (MVF) and cross-attention mechanisms, effectively combining features from three X-ray views (AP, lateral right, lateral left) and patient metadata (age, sex). By leveraging these techniques, the model captures comprehensive semantic and structural information for high diagnostic accuracy while minimizing radiation exposure. Tested on a dataset of 882 X-ray images from 294 pediatric patients, the model achieved an AUROC of 0.975, an F1-score of 0.882, a sensitivity of 0.878, and a specificity of 0.937. Grad-CAM visualizations further validated its ability to localize disease-relevant regions using only classification annotations. The model demonstrates the potential to revolutionize pediatric care by providing a safer, cost-effective alternative to CT scans.