MUCM-Net: a Mamba powered UCM-Net for skin lesion segmentation

Aim: Skin lesion segmentation is critical for early skin cancer detection. Challenges in automatic segmentation from dermoscopic images include variations in color, texture, and artifacts of indistinct lesion boundaries. This study aims to develop and evaluate MUCM-Net, a lightweight and efficient model for skin lesion segmentation, leveraging Mamba state-space models integrated with UCM-Net architecture optimized for mobile deployment and early skin cancer detection. Methods: MUCM-Net combines Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), multi-layer perceptions (MLPs), and Mamba elements into a hybrid feature learning module. Results: The model was trained and tested on the International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) 2017 and ISIC2018 datasets, consisting of 2,000 and 2,594 dermoscopic images, respectively. Critical metrics for evaluation included Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), and accuracy (ACC). The model’s computational efficiency was also assessed by measuring Giga Floating-point Operations Per Second (GFLOPS) and the number of parameters. MUCM-Net demonstrated superior performance in skin lesion segmentation with an average DSC of 0.91 on the ISIC2017 dataset and 0.89 on the ISIC2018 dataset, outperforming existing models. It achieved high SE (0.93), SP (0.95), and ACC (0.92) with low computational demands (0.055–0.064 GFLOPS). Conclusions: The model’s innovative Mamba-UCM layer significantly enhanced feature learning while maintaining efficiency that is suitable for mobile devices. MUCM-Net establishes a new standard in lightweight skin lesion segmentation, balancing exceptional ACC with efficient computational performance. Its ability to perform well on mobile devices makes it a scalable tool for early skin cancer detection in resource-limited settings. The open-source availability of MUCM-Net supports further research and collaboration, promoting advances in mobile health diagnostics and the fight against skin cancer. MUCM-Net source code will be posted on https://github.com/chunyuyuan/MUCM-Net.