arXiv subjects

Yu-Chiao Yi

Publications and source records attributed to Yu-Chiao Yi.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

EMBRACE: A Multi-task Framework for Comprehensive Quality Assessment in Cleavage-stage Embryo

Cleavage-stage embryo assessment in in vitro fertilization requires the integrated interpretation of cytoplasmic fragmentation, developmental stage, and blastomere symmetry. However, conventional visual assessment is affected by observer variability, particularly when fragmented regions are small, irregular, or low contrast. This study presents EMBRACE, a multi-task deep learning framework for jointly performing cytoplasmic-fragmentation segmentation, t2/t4 developmental-stage classification, and blastomere-symmetry grading from static cleavage-stage embryo microscopy images. EMBRACE combines a shared ResNet-50 backbone, a concatenation-based multi-scale feature-fusion (C-MSFF) module, a U-Net-style segmentation decoder, and two task-specific classification heads. After predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 9,137 annotated embryo images were divided into 7,309 training, 914 validation, and 914 held-out test images. On the held-out test set, EMBRACE achieved a Dice coefficient of 0.781 and an intersection over union of 0.677 for fragmentation segmentation. Developmental-stage classification achieved an accuracy of 0.995, macro-F1 of 0.994, and AUC of 1.000. Blastomere-symmetry grading achieved a balanced accuracy of 0.901, macro-F1 of 0.907, and quadratic weighted kappa of 0.859. These findings support the feasibility of combining spatially inspectable fragmentation localization with embryo-level morphology assessment in a single framework. External and prospective validation is required before clinical deployment.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2025

AttnRegDeepLab: A Two-Stage Decoupled Framework for Interpretable Embryo Fragmentation Grading

Assessing embryo fragmentation is crucial for predicting IVF success, yet manual grading is prone to subjectivity, and existing AI models struggle with clinical interpretability and segmentation errors. We propose AttnRegDeepLab, a Multi-Task Learning (MTL) framework designed to solve these challenges. The model enhances a DeepLabV3+ decoder with Attention Gates to filter out cytoplasmic noise and retain sharp contour details. It also introduces a Multi-Scale Regression Head with Feature Injection, guiding the segmentation process with global grading priors to eliminate systematic area estimation errors. Based on a two-stage decoupled training strategy and a range-based loss for weakly labeled data, our method resolves MTL gradient conflicts. AttnRegDeepLab yields high grading precision and excellent segmentation quality (Dice coefficient = 0.729), avoiding the trade-off between contour integrity and grading accuracy seen under standard joint optimization. This provides a reliable, clinically interpretable tool balancing visual and quantitative accuracy.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2025

Beyond Data Scarcity Optimizing R3GAN for Medical Image Generation from Small Datasets

Medical image datasets frequently exhibit significant class imbalance, a challenge that is further amplified by the inherently limited sample sizes that characterize clinical imaging data. Using human embryo time-lapse imaging (TLI) as a case study, this work investigates how generative adversarial networks (GANs) can be optimized for small datasets to generate realistic and diagnostically meaningful images. Based on systematic experiments with R3GAN, we established effective training strategies and designed an optimized configuration for 256x256-resolution datasets, featuring a full burn-in phase and a low, gradually increasing gamma range (5 to 40). The generated samples were used to balance an imbalanced embryo dataset, leading to substantial improvement in classification performance. The recall and F1-score of the three-cell (t3) class increased from 0.06 to 0.69 and from 0.11 to 0.60, respectively, without compromising the performance of other classes. These results demonstrate that tailored R3GAN training strategies can effectively alleviate data scarcity and improve model robustness in small-scale medical imaging tasks.

eess.IV↗

arXiv2024

Federal Learning Framework for Quality Evaluation of Blastomere Cleavage

This study addresses the issue of leveraging federated learning to improve data privacy and performance in IVF embryo selection. The EM (Expectation-Maximization) algorithm is incorporated into deep learning models to form a federated learning framework for quality evaluation of blastomere cleavage using two-dimensional images. The framework comprises a server site and several client sites characterized in that each is locally trained with an EM algorithm. Upon the completion of the local EM training, a separate 5-mode mixture distribution is generated for each client, the clients' distribution statics are then uploaded to the server site and aggregated therein to produce a global (sharing) 5-mode distribution. During the inference phase, each client uses image classifiers and an instance segmentor, assisted by the global 5-mode distribution acting as a calibrator to (1) identify the absolute cleavage timing of blastomere, i.e., tPNa, tPNf, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7, and t8, (2) track the cleavage process of blastomeres to detect the irregular cleavage patterns, and (3) assess the symmetry degree of blastomeres. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms commercial Time-Lapse Incubators in reducing the average error of timing prediction by twofold. The proposed facilitate frameworks the adaptability and scalability of classifiers and segmentor to data variability associated with patients in different locations or countries.

eess.IV↗