Knee osteoarthritis severity grading using soft labelling and ordinal classification
F. Bérchez-Moreno , V. Vargas, A. Gómez-Orellana, D. Guijo-Rubio, L. Romeo, E. Conti, P. Gutiérrez, C. Hervás-Martínez
18th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, pp. 522-533, 2026Abstract
Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) is a progressive joint disease characterised by stiffness and pain, among others. It is generally diagnosed by evaluating physical symptoms, medical history, and screening techniques. However, conventional methods are often subjective, posing a significant challenge to the early grading of disease progression. To address this issue and support clinical decision-making, we propose an ordinal deep learning framework to study the optimal combination of loss functions, and output methodologies with soft labelling approaches, for automatic KOA severity grading based on Kellgren and Lawrence scores from X-ray images. A total of 20 combinations (2 loss functions x 2 output methodologies x 5 soft labelling approaches) are compared in this study, using a public dataset. The optimal configuration uses the categorical cross entropy loss, a cumulative link model as output, and a beta distribution for soft labelling. The results achieved demonstrate the efficacy of these ordinal classification approaches.
Cite this publication
BibTex
@inproceedings{berchez-moreno2026knee,
author = {Francisco Bérchez-Moreno and Víctor Manuel Vargas and Antonio M. Gómez-Orellana and David Guijo-Rubio and Luca Romeo and Edoardo Conti and Pedro Antonio Gutiérrez and César Hervás-Martínez},
title = {Knee osteoarthritis severity grading using soft labelling and ordinal classification},
booktitle = {18th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks},
year = {2026},
pages = {522--533},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-02725-2_41}
}
APA
Bérchez-Moreno, F., Vargas, V., Gómez-Orellana, A., Guijo-Rubio, D., Romeo, L., Conti, E., Gutiérrez, P., Hervás-Martínez, C. (2026). Knee osteoarthritis severity grading using soft labelling and ordinal classification. In 18th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (pp. 522-533).
CV
F. Bérchez-Moreno (CA), V.M. Vargas, A.M. Gómez-Orellana, D. Guijo-Rubio, L. Romeo, E. Conti, P.A. Gutiérrez, C. Hervás-Martínez, (2/8) "Knee osteoarthritis severity grading using soft labelling and ordinal classification". 18th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, pp. 522-533, 2026.
RIS
TY - CONF T1 - Knee osteoarthritis severity grading using soft labelling and ordinal classification T2 - 18th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks AU - Bérchez-Moreno, Francisco AU - Vargas, Víctor Manuel AU - Gómez-Orellana, Antonio M. AU - Guijo-Rubio, David AU - Romeo, Luca AU - Conti, Edoardo AU - Gutiérrez, Pedro Antonio AU - Hervás-Martínez, César JO - 18th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks JA - 18th International Work-Conference on Artificial Neural Networks Y1 - 2026 PY - 2026 SP - 522 EP - 533 DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-02725-2_41 ER -