This research presents a hybrid quantum-classical machine learning framework for medical image classification under noisy conditions using chest X-ray images. A classical Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model and a hybrid quantum-classical model integrating variational quantum circuits were implemented using PyTorch and PennyLane. Gaussian noise was introduced during validation to evaluate model robustness under image perturbations. Experimental results demonstrated comparable performance between the classical CNN and the hybrid quantum-classical model, highlighting the potential of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) for future healthcare AI applications. GitHub Repository:https://github.com/saichandukundarapu/quantum-covid-detection
This research presents a hybrid quantum-classical machine learning framework for medical image classification under noisy conditions using chest X-ray images. A classical Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model and a hybrid quantum-classical model integrating variational quantum circuits were implemented using PyTorch and PennyLane. Gaussian noise was introduced during validation to evaluate model robustness under image perturbations. Experimental results demonstrated comparable performance between the classical CNN and the hybrid quantum-classical model, highlighting the potential of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) for future healthcare AI applications. GitHub Repository:https://github.com/saichandukundarapu/quantum-covid-detection
Abstract Pneumonia remains a leading cause of mortality globally, necessitating rapid and accurate diagnostic tools to assist radiologists. While classical Deep Learning (DL) models, particularly Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), have demonstrated high efficacy in medical image analysis, they are often characterized by high computational complexity and massive parameter requirements. This research proposes a novel Hybrid Quantum-Classical Neural Network (HQCNN) to detect Pneumonia from chest X-ray images with enhanced computational efficiency. By integrating a classical ResNet-18 architecture for feature extraction with a Variational Quantum Circuit (VQC) based on PennyLane, we leverage the quantum mechanical principles of superposition and entanglement for pattern recognition. The proposed model was trained and validated on a standard chest X-ray dataset and benchmarked against a classical transfer learning equivalent. Experimental results indicate that the hybrid quantum model achieved a validation accuracy of 78% with significantly fewer trainable parameters (~ 24) compared to the classical baseline (62% accuracy, ~ 1026 parameters). Furthermore, the quantum model demonstrated superior sensitivity (100% Recall), successfully identifying all positive pneumonia cases in the validation batch. This study highlights the potential of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) as a resource-efficient, high-sensitivity alternative for future medical diagnostic systems.
This study investigates the integration of a 2-qubit quantum system into a classical neural network for chest X-ray classification. Three hybrid quantum-classical neural network circuits are evaluated: U-gate with CNOT, IBM QCNN, and RealAmplitudes. A classical convolutional neural network (CNN), specifically ResNet-18, serves as a benchmark. The results show accuracies of 0.9038 for ResNet-18, 0.7981 for U-gate with CNOT, 0.6250 for IBM QCNN, and 0.6250 for RealAmplitudes. The classical ResNet-18 model outperforms all hybrid models, but the U-gate with CNOT circuit demonstrates promising performance, suggesting potential for quantum-enhanced machine learning in medical image classification.
Purpose This study investigates the integration of quantum-enhanced machine learning (QML) into medical image analysis, focusing on classification and feature extraction tasks. It aims to evaluate whether hybrid quantum-classical models can overcome the limitations of traditional machine learning in handling high-dimensional, clinically relevant imaging data. Design/methodology/approach Hybrid architectures combining classical preprocessing with quantum components, specifically variational quantum circuits (VQCs) and quantum kernel methods, were developed and implemented in simulated quantum environments using Qiskit and PennyLane on Google Colab. Publicly available datasets (ChestX-ray14, Brain Tumor MRI and CT Hemorrhage) were preprocessed and encoded into quantum states. Model performance was evaluated against classical baselines (MLP and CNN) using accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, convergence speed and trainable parameters. Findings Quantum-enhanced models achieved competitive or superior performance compared to classical models with significantly fewer trainable parameters and faster convergence. The Quantum Kernel SVM demonstrated the highest precision (89.1%) and F1-score (88.5%) using only 8 parameters, while VQC models converged up to 2× faster than classical baselines. These results highlight the potential of QML to improve efficiency, robustness and scalability in diagnostic imaging workflows, particularly in resource-constrained or data-limited settings. Research limitations/implications The study relies on simulated quantum environments, which do not capture hardware noise or qubit limitations. Future work will extend to real quantum devices, multimodal data integration and interpretability strategies. Practical implications Quantum kernel methods and lightweight VQC architectures enable faster, resource-efficient diagnostic modeling, making them suitable for clinical environments with limited computational capacity or time-sensitive decision-making needs. Social implications Improving the efficiency and accessibility of medical image analysis has the potential to support faster diagnosis and enhance healthcare delivery, particularly in underserved or resource-limited regions. Originality/value This study provides a practical evaluation of hybrid quantum-classical models applied to multiple real medical imaging datasets in a reproducible simulated environment. It offers an early-stage framework demonstrating how QML techniques can be integrated into existing machine learning pipelines for medical image analysis.
With millions of medical data being produced daily, it is important to leverage current technology to improve the healthcare system. As traditional deep learning models are unable to effectively handle high-dimensional data, a hybrid classical-quantum approach is used to enhance traditional deep learning algorithms. The hybrid classical-quantum models are built upon the classical deep learning framework with quantum techniques. The classical layers are utilized for feature extraction while the quantum layer is used for computational tasks. This addresses computational limitations and data imbalance challenges in medical image analysis. Transfer learning models, such as ResNet18 and InceptionV3, are used in conjunction with a quantum variational circuit to perform the task. The model is trained on a chest X-ray dataset, which consists of two sets of data: binary and multiclass. The binary dataset consists of Normal and COVID-19 images, while the multiclass dataset has COVID-19, Normal, and Tuberculosis images for classification. PennyLane, as a simulator, has been used to perform quantum computing. The dataset has also been used to train the traditional transfer learning models, pre-trained ResNet18, and their results have been compared. Out of all the models tested, the hybrid classical-quantum model, namely Hybrid ResNet18, performed the best. It achieved an accuracy of 93.22% for the binary classification task and 93.91% for the multiclass classification. The results show that there is a statistically significant improvement in classification accuracy and F1-score of the hybrid approach over the classical transfer learning baselines under a simulation-based environment. This sets the stage for further research on real-world physical quantum hardware. Class imbalance and overlapping predictions have been addressed using methods such as data augmentation and confusion matrix analysis. Thus, quantum machine learning could be used as a vital tool to analyze medical data for better diagnostic results.
Introduction: Medical image classification is a crucial task in cancer diagnosis, relying on the accurate analysis of high-dimensional imaging data. While Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have shown great success in this domain, their performance is often limited by the shallow feature expressiveness and overfitting, particularly in small or heterogeneous datasets. Methods: Quantum machine learning offers new opportunities through high-dimensional representations and nonlinear transformations. In this work, we propose a Quantum-Enhanced Sandwich Convolutional Neural Network (QSCNN), a layered hybrid architecture that integrates quantum and classical modules. The model employs a quanvolutional layer for localized quantum feature extraction, followed by conventional convolution and pooling for hierarchical representation learning, and a variational quantum classifier for nonlinear decision-making. Results: QSCNN achieved higher accuracy and training stability than classical CNNs and QCCNN baselines across three medical imaging tasks.: brain tumor MRI, skin cancer dermoscopy, and lung cancer CT. Circuit depth analysis revealed a trade-off between expressiveness and robustness, and additional experiments with depolarizing noise confirmed the model’s resilience under realistic quantum error conditions. Discussion: This suggests that circuit design choices influence hybrid model behavior and generalization, supporting the feasibility of quantum-enhanced methods for small-sample medical imaging. However, the current evaluation is limited to relatively small benchmark datasets, and broader validation on large-scale data will be essential to confirm clinical applicability. Conclusion: In summary, QSCNN presents a feasible hybrid framework for enhancing medical image classification with quantum features. While preliminary, our results suggest potential advantages in accuracy and stability under NISQ conditions.
Background: The emergent need for scalable artificial intelligence (AI) models emphasizes the shortcomings of traditional machine learning in dealing with big, complicated datasets owing to computation and energy limitations. Objective: The architecture takes advantage of quantum encoding methods like amplitude and angle encoding for compact feature representation, with classical preprocessing providing compatibility and stability. Methods: To overcome these issues, this research introduces a Hybrid Quantum-Classical Machine Learning (HQML) framework that combines Quantum Variational Classifiers (QVCs) and Quantum Convolutional Neural Networks (QCNNs) with classical deep learning layers. Results: Experiments were performed on pre-curated datasets taken from the Scikit Machine Learning Repository, with hybrid models compared to classical Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). The implementation was done with PennyLane using TensorFlow Quantum for compatibility with noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) machines. The comparative analysis identified that the suggested HQML model achieves significant performance gains, as classification accuracy increased from 73 percent in the baseline classical CNN to 98% in the hybrid model. Precision also went up from 77 to 96 percent, recall from 81 to 100 percent, and F1-score from 79 to 98 percent. These findings confirm the ability of the model to leverage quantum benefits for extracting complicated data distributions without losing stability through classical components. The findings confirm the viability of HQML to real-world finance, healthcare, and intelligent automation applications where scalability and precision matter. Conclusion: This research establishes that quantum-classical integration not only minimizes training overhead but also attains near-perfect classification efficiency with constrained qubit resources. The research aids in filling the gap between theoretical quantum potential and deployable practical AI, opening the door for next-generation quantum-boosted intelligence.