# Deep Learning for Reliable Classification of COVID-19, MERS, and SARS from Chest X-Ray Images

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.11524 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.11524/

## Key facts

- Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 23 May 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [OSegNet: Operational Segmentation Network for COVID-19 Detection using Chest X-ray Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.10185/) (2022)
- [COVID-19 Infection Localization and Severity Grading from Chest X-ray Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.07985/) (2021)
- [BSDA: Bayesian Random Semantic Data Augmentation for Medical Image Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.06138/) (2024)
- [BIO-CXRNET: A Robust Multimodal Stacking Machine Learning Technique for Mortality Risk Prediction of COVID-19 Patients using Chest X-Ray Images and Clinical Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.07595/) (2022)
- [MedAugment: Universal Automatic Data Augmentation Plug-in for Medical Image Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.17466/) (2023)
- [Vision Transformer for Efficient Chest X-ray and Gastrointestinal Image Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.11529/) (2023)
- [An Enhanced Privacy-preserving Federated Few-shot Learning Framework for Respiratory Disease Diagnosis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.08050/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an extremely contagious and quickly spreading Coronavirus infestation. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which outbreak in 2002 and 2011, and the current COVID-19 pandemic are all from the same family of coronavirus. This work aims to classify COVID-19, SARS, and MERS chest X-ray (CXR) images using deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). A unique database was created, so-called QU-COVID-family, consisting of 423 COVID-19, 144 MERS, and 134 SARS CXR images. Besides, a robust COVID-19 recognition system was proposed to identify lung regions using a CNN segmentation model (U-Net), and then classify the segmented lung images as COVID-19, MERS, or SARS using a pre-trained CNN classifier. Furthermore, the Score-CAM visualization method was utilized to visualize classification output and understand the reasoning behind the decision of deep CNNs. Several Deep Learning classifiers were trained and tested; four outperforming algorithms were reported. Original and preprocessed images were used individually and all together as the input(s) to the networks. Two recognition schemes were considered: plain CXR classification and segmented CXR classification. For plain CXRs, it was observed that InceptionV3 outperforms other networks with a 3-channel scheme and achieves sensitivities of 99.5%, 93.1%, and 97% for classifying COVID-19, MERS, and SARS images, respectively. In contrast, for segmented CXRs, InceptionV3 outperformed using the original CXR dataset and achieved sensitivities of 96.94%, 79.68%, and 90.26% for classifying COVID-19, MERS, and SARS images, respectively. All networks showed high COVID-19 detection sensitivity (>96%) with the segmented lung images. This indicates the unique radiographic signature of COVID-19 cases in the eyes of AI, which is often a challenging task for medical doctors.