A Fully Open and Generalizable Foundation Model for Ultrasound Clinical Applications
Artificial intelligence (AI) that can effectively learn ultrasound representations by integrating multi-source data holds significant promise for advancing clinical care. However, the scarcity of large labeled datasets in real-world clinical environments and the limited generalizability of task-specific models have hindered the development of generalizable clinical AI models for ultrasound applications. In this study, we present EchoCare, a novel ultrasound foundation model for generalist clinical use, developed via self-supervised learning on our curated, publicly available, large-scale dataset EchoCareData. EchoCareData comprises 4.5 million ultrasound images, sourced from over 23 countries across 5 continents and acquired via a diverse range of distinct imaging devices, thus encompassing global cohorts that are multi-center, multi-device, and multi-ethnic. Unlike prior studies that adopt off-the-shelf vision foundation model architectures, we introduce a hierarchical classifier into EchoCare to enable joint learning of pixel-level and representation-level features, capturing both global anatomical contexts and local ultrasound characteristics. With minimal training, EchoCare outperforms state-of-the-art comparison models across 10 representative ultrasound benchmarks of varying diagnostic difficulties, spanning disease diagnosis, lesion segmentation, organ detection, landmark prediction, quantitative regression, imaging enhancement and report generation. The code and pretrained model are publicly released, rendering EchoCare accessible for fine-tuning and local adaptation, supporting extensibility to additional applications. EchoCare provides a fully open and generalizable foundation model to boost the development of AI technologies for diverse clinical ultrasound applications.
Code (0)
등록된 구현이 없습니다.
Tasks
Self-Supervised LearningLesion SegmentationSimilar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
OpenUS: A Fully Open-Source Foundation Model for Ultrasound Image Analysis via Self-Adaptive Masked Contrastive Learning
Ultrasound (US) is one of the most widely used medical imaging modalities, thanks to its low cost, portability, real-time feedback, and absence of ionizing radiation. However, US image interpretation remains highly opera…
Contrastive LearningUnderstanding Task Aggregation for Generalizable Ultrasound Foundation Models
Foundation models promise to unify multiple clinical tasks within a single framework, but recent ultrasound studies report that unified models can underperform task-specific baselines. We hypothesize that this degradatio…
Baseline Method of the Foundation Model Challenge for Ultrasound Image Analysis
Ultrasound (US) imaging exhibits substantial heterogeneity across anatomical structures and acquisition protocols, posing significant challenges to the development of generalizable analysis models. Most existing methods …
Multi-Task LearningA Foundational Generative Model for Breast Ultrasound Image Analysis
Foundational models have emerged as powerful tools for addressing various tasks in clinical settings. However, their potential development to breast ultrasound analysis remains untapped. In this paper, we present BUSGen,…
DiagnosticPrognosisA texture-based framework for foundational ultrasound models
Ultrasound is the most widely used medical imaging modality, yet the images it produces are fundamentally unique, arising from tissue-dependent scattering, reflection, and speed-of-sound variations that produce a constra…
Self-Supervised Learning