Abstract: Background and study aims Artificial intelligence is currently able to accurately predict the histology of colorectal polyps. However, systems developed to date use complex optical technologies and have not been tested in vivo. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new deep learning-based optical diagnosis system, ATENEA, in a real clinical setting using only high-definition white light endoscopy (WLE) and to compare its performance with endoscopists. Methods ATENEA was prospectively tested in real life on consecutive polyps detected in colorectal cancer screening colonoscopies at Hospital Clínic. No images were discarded, and only WLE was used. The in vivo ATENEA's prediction (adenoma vs non-adenoma) was compared with the prediction of four staff endoscopists without specific training in optical diagnosis for the study purposes. Endoscopists were blind to the ATENEA output. Histology was the gold standard. Results Ninety polyps (median size: 5 mm, range: 2-25) from 31 patients were included of which 69 (76.7 %) were adenomas. ATENEA correctly predicted the histology in 63 of 69 (91.3 %, 95 % CI: 82 %-97 %) adenomas and 12 of 21 (57.1 %, 95 % CI: 34 %-78 %) non-adenomas while endoscopists made correct predictions in 52 of 69 (75.4 %, 95 % CI: 60 %-85 %) and 20 of 21 (95.2 %, 95 % CI: 76 %-100 %), respectively. The global accuracy was 83.3 % (95 % CI: 74%-90 %) and 80 % (95 % CI: 70 %-88 %) for ATENEA and endoscopists, respectively. Conclusion ATENEA can accurately be used for in vivo characterization of colorectal polyps, enabling the endoscopist to make direct decisions. ATENEA showed a global accuracy similar to that of endoscopists despite an unsatisfactory performance for non-adenomatous lesions.

Abstract: Motion perception is an amazing innate ability of the creatures on the planet. This adroitness entails a functional advantage that enables species to compete better in the wild. The motion perception ability is usually employed at different levels, allowing from the simplest interaction with the ’physis’ up to the most transcendental survival tasks. Among the five classical perception system , vision is the most widely used in the motion perception field. Millions years of evolution have led to a highly specialized visual system in humans, which is characterized by a tremendous accuracy as well as an extraordinary robustness. Although humans and an immense diversity of species can distinguish moving object with a seeming simplicity, it has proven to be a difficult and non trivial problem from a computational perspective. In the field of Computer Vision, the detection of moving objects is a challenging and fundamental research area. This can be referred to as the ’origin’ of vast and numerous vision-based research sub-areas. Nevertheless, from the bottom to the top of this hierarchical analysis, the foundations still relies on when and where motion has occurred in an image. Pixels corresponding to moving objects in image sequences can be identified by measuring changes in their values. However, a pixel’s value (representing a combination of color and brightness) could also vary due to other factors such as: variation in scene illumination, camera noise and nonlinear sensor responses among others. The challenge lies in detecting if the changes in pixels’ value are caused by a genuine object movement or not. An additional challenging aspect in motion detection is represented by moving cast shadows. The paradox arises because a moving object and its cast shadow share similar motion patterns. However, a moving cast shadow is not a moving object. In fact, a shadow represents a photometric illumination effect caused by the relative position of the object with respect to the light sources. Shadow detection methods are mainly divided in two domains depending on the application field. One normally consists of static images where shadows are casted by static objects, whereas the second one is referred to image sequences where shadows are casted by moving objects. For the first case, shadows can provide additional geometric and semantic cues about shape and position of its casting object as well as the localization of the light source. Although the previous information can be extracted from static images as well as video sequences, the main focus in the second area is usually change detection, scene matching or surveillance. In this context, a shadow can severely affect with the analysis and interpretation of the scene. The work done in the thesis is focused on the second case, thus it addresses the problem of detection and removal of moving cast shadows in video sequences in order to enhance the detection of moving object.