A wavelet and local binary pattern-based feature descriptor for the detection of chronic infection through thoracic X-ray images

This investigation attempts to propose a novel Wavelet and Local Binary Pattern-based Xception feature Descriptor (WLBPXD) framework, which uses a deep-learning model for classifying chronic infection amongst other infections. Chronic infection (COVID-19 in this study) is identified via RT-PCR test, which is time-consuming and requires a dedicated laboratory (materials, equipment, etc.) to complete the clinical results. X-rays and computed tomography images from chest scans offer an alternative method for identifying chronic infections. It has been demonstrated that chronic infection can be diagnosed from X-ray images acquired in a real-world setting. The images are transformed using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), combined with the local binary pattern (LBP) technique. Pre-trained deep-learning models, such as AlexNet, Xception, VGG-16 and Inception Resnet50, extract the features. Subsequently, the extracted features are fused using feature-fusion approaches and subjected to classification. The AlexNet, in conjunction with the DWT model, produced 99.7% accurate results, whereas the AlexNet and the LBP model produced 99.6% accurate results. Therefore, the proposed method is efficient as it offers a better detection accuracy and eventually enhances the scope of early detection, thus assisting the clinical perspectives.