Token-Based Dual-view Fusion and Adaptation of Large Vision Models for Breast Cancer Classification
Summary
A novel token-centric dual-view learning framework is proposed for accurate breast cancer classification using mammography. This framework unifies prompt-based adaptation and cross-view fusion within a frozen MedSigLIP vision transformer backbone. It reformulates inter-view interaction as structured token-level communication, where dedicated fusion tokens explicitly encode bidirectional information exchange between craniocaudal (CC) and mediolateral oblique (MLO) views via cross-attention. Unlike conventional methods, fusion modules are inserted at multiple transformer depths, enabling progressive and repeated interaction across the encoder hierarchy. Experiments on VinDr-Mammo and CMMD datasets demonstrate consistent improvements, achieving 50.40% F1-score and 0.8090 AUC on VinDr-Mammo BI-RADS classification, and a 0.10 AUC improvement over a dual-view fusion baseline in the binary setting.
Key takeaway
For Machine Learning Engineers adapting large vision models for multi-view medical imaging, this framework provides a robust method to integrate complementary information from different views. By implementing multi-depth token-based fusion and shared prompt learning, you can achieve superior performance and parameter efficiency compared to conventional feature-level fusion. Consider optimizing prompt depth and fusion block placement to maximize classification accuracy on your specific datasets.
Key insights
Token-based fusion and multi-depth interaction effectively integrate complementary mammography views within frozen vision transformers.
Principles
- Multi-depth cross-view interaction improves hierarchical information integration.
- Dedicated fusion tokens preserve cross-view dependencies.
- Moderate, well-spaced fusion blocks provide optimal integration.
Method
A two-stage framework first applies deep shared-view prompt learning, then introduces token-based cross-view fusion via bidirectional cross-attention and fusion token insertion at multiple transformer depths, concatenating final embeddings for classification.
In practice
- Utilize MedSigLIP as a frozen vision encoder for medical imaging.
- Implement token-based cross-attention for multi-view data fusion.
- Optimize prompt depth and fusion block placement for specific datasets.
Topics
- Breast Cancer Classification
- Mammography
- Multi-view Fusion
- Vision Transformers
- Prompt Learning
- Cross-Attention
Code references
Best for: Computer Vision Engineer, AI Scientist, Machine Learning Engineer, Research Scientist
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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by cs.CV updates on arXiv.org.