# ProsDectNet: Bridging the Gap in Prostate Cancer Detection via Transrectal B-mode Ultrasound Imaging

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.05334 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.05334/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 5 of its 19 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Dec 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Feature Pyramid Networks for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.03144/) (2016)
- [3D U-Net: Learning Dense Volumetric Segmentation from Sparse Annotation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.06650/) (2016)
- [UNETR: Transformers for 3D Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.10504/) (2021)
- [ADVENT: Adversarial Entropy Minimization for Domain Adaptation in Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.12833/) (2018)
- [Unified Focal loss: Generalising Dice and cross entropy-based losses to handle class imbalanced medical image segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04525/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Multimodal MRI-Ultrasound AI for Prostate Cancer Detection Outperforms Radiologist MRI Interpretation: A Multi-Center Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.00146/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Interpreting traditional B-mode ultrasound images can be challenging due to image artifacts (e.g., shadowing, speckle), leading to low sensitivity and limited diagnostic accuracy. While Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a solution, it is expensive and not widely available. Furthermore, most biopsies are guided by Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS) alone and can miss up to 52% cancers, highlighting the need for improved targeting. To address this issue, we propose ProsDectNet, a multi-task deep learning approach that localizes prostate cancer on B-mode ultrasound. Our model is pre-trained using radiologist-labeled data and fine-tuned using biopsy-confirmed labels. ProsDectNet includes a lesion detection and patch classification head, with uncertainty minimization using entropy to improve model performance and reduce false positive predictions. We trained and validated ProsDectNet using a cohort of 289 patients who underwent MRI-TRUS fusion targeted biopsy. We then tested our approach on a group of 41 patients and found that ProsDectNet outperformed the average expert clinician in detecting prostate cancer on B-mode ultrasound images, achieving a patient-level ROC-AUC of 82%, a sensitivity of 74%, and a specificity of 67%. Our results demonstrate that ProsDectNet has the potential to be used as a computer-aided diagnosis system to improve targeted biopsy and treatment planning.
