Uncertainty in Neural Networks vs. Dermatologists for Skin Lesion Classification

Neural networks have proven to be very effective for skin lesion classification, performing equal to, or better than, dermatologists in controlled settings. Recently, various approaches have also been presented to augment neural networks with uncertainty metrics, which improves their usefulness as decision support tool in a clinical practice. However, it is unclear how these techniques match the diagnostic process of a dermatologist. Therefore, we have set up a survey, to compare the diagnosis and uncertainty of a neural network with dermatologists. We found that the neural network and the dermatologists performed similarly. They were however, unsure about different lesions, suggesting they might be complimentary.