HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising

Low-dose computed tomography (CT) is a potent strategy to minimize X-ray radiation and its detrimental effects on patients. However, reducing radiation significantly boosts noise in reconstructed images, causing blur and obscuring critical tissue details. This obscurity poses significant challenges...

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Main Authors: Shanaz Sharmin Jui, Zhitao Guo, Rending Jiang, Jiale Liu, Bohua Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2025-07-01
Series:PeerJ Computer Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/cs-2952.pdf
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author Shanaz Sharmin Jui
Zhitao Guo
Rending Jiang
Jiale Liu
Bohua Li
author_facet Shanaz Sharmin Jui
Zhitao Guo
Rending Jiang
Jiale Liu
Bohua Li
author_sort Shanaz Sharmin Jui
collection DOAJ
description Low-dose computed tomography (CT) is a potent strategy to minimize X-ray radiation and its detrimental effects on patients. However, reducing radiation significantly boosts noise in reconstructed images, causing blur and obscuring critical tissue details. This obscurity poses significant challenges for doctors in making accurate diagnoses. Traditional techniques like sinogram domain filtration and iterative reconstruction algorithms require inaccessible raw data. Thus, this article introduces HybridFormer, a revolutionary image-denoising model utilizing the Residual Convolution-Swin Transformer Network, designed to enhance images while preserving vital details. Firstly, this algorithm constructs residual convolution for local feature extraction and Swin Transformer for global feature extraction, boosting denoising efficacy. Secondly, to address texture detail errors, we introduced a combined attention transformer unit (CATU) with a cross-channel attentive fusion layer (CCAFL), integrated with residual blocks to form a residual convolution and Swin Transformer Fusion Block (RSTB). Finally, using RSTB, we developed a deep feature refinement module (DFRM) to preserve image details. To avoid smoothing, we combined multi-scale perceptual loss from ResNet-50 with Charbonnier loss into a composite loss function. Validated on the AAPM2016 Mayo dataset, HybridFormer outperformed other state-of-the-art algorithms, achieving improvements of 0.02 dB, 0.16%, and 0.28% in PSNR, SSIM, and FSIM, respectively. Compared with other advanced algorithms, the proposed algorithm achieved the best performance indicators, confirming its superiority.
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spelling doaj-art-d1b1aee0e102483c8a814d0fdb75bbed2025-07-18T15:05:20ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ Computer Science2376-59922025-07-0111e295210.7717/peerj-cs.2952HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoisingShanaz Sharmin JuiZhitao GuoRending JiangJiale LiuBohua LiLow-dose computed tomography (CT) is a potent strategy to minimize X-ray radiation and its detrimental effects on patients. However, reducing radiation significantly boosts noise in reconstructed images, causing blur and obscuring critical tissue details. This obscurity poses significant challenges for doctors in making accurate diagnoses. Traditional techniques like sinogram domain filtration and iterative reconstruction algorithms require inaccessible raw data. Thus, this article introduces HybridFormer, a revolutionary image-denoising model utilizing the Residual Convolution-Swin Transformer Network, designed to enhance images while preserving vital details. Firstly, this algorithm constructs residual convolution for local feature extraction and Swin Transformer for global feature extraction, boosting denoising efficacy. Secondly, to address texture detail errors, we introduced a combined attention transformer unit (CATU) with a cross-channel attentive fusion layer (CCAFL), integrated with residual blocks to form a residual convolution and Swin Transformer Fusion Block (RSTB). Finally, using RSTB, we developed a deep feature refinement module (DFRM) to preserve image details. To avoid smoothing, we combined multi-scale perceptual loss from ResNet-50 with Charbonnier loss into a composite loss function. Validated on the AAPM2016 Mayo dataset, HybridFormer outperformed other state-of-the-art algorithms, achieving improvements of 0.02 dB, 0.16%, and 0.28% in PSNR, SSIM, and FSIM, respectively. Compared with other advanced algorithms, the proposed algorithm achieved the best performance indicators, confirming its superiority.https://peerj.com/articles/cs-2952.pdfLow-dose CTDeep learningCT image denoisingTransformer
spellingShingle Shanaz Sharmin Jui
Zhitao Guo
Rending Jiang
Jiale Liu
Bohua Li
HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising
PeerJ Computer Science
Low-dose CT
Deep learning
CT image denoising
Transformer
title HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising
title_full HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising
title_fullStr HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising
title_full_unstemmed HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising
title_short HybridFormer: a convolutional neural network-Transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising
title_sort hybridformer a convolutional neural network transformer architecture for low dose computed tomography image denoising
topic Low-dose CT
Deep learning
CT image denoising
Transformer
url https://peerj.com/articles/cs-2952.pdf
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