Cross-domain transfer learning strategy enhances interpretability of deep learning model explanations
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Clinical decision-making increasingly relies on deep neural networks (DNNs), yet their deployment in practice requires transparent and interpretable predictions. Explainable artificial intelligence (xAI) methods can identify input regions relevant to a model's decision, but their clinical interpretability remains limited. In this study, we investigated whether inductive transfer learning (TL) can reinforce domain-specific feature separation in xECGArch, a two-branch convolutional neural network for atrial fibrillation (AF) detection from electrocardiograms (ECGs). Each branch was pre-trained on a task aligned with its designated feature domain, P wave detection for morphology and RR interval variability prediction for rhythm, then fine-tuned on binary AF classification using an iterative layer freezing schedule. Deep Taylor decomposition (DTD) was applied to analyze explanations across all configurations. Fine-tuning accuracy ranged from 85.70% to 95.23%, remaining comparable to the original xECGArch architecture and previous TL-based approaches. However, DTD analysis demonstrated that morphology pre-training directed relevance toward P waves, whereas rhythm pre-training concentrated explanations on R peaks, with domain specificity increasing as more layers were frozen. These findings suggest that inductive TL can encourage domain-specific feature attribution in DNNs, improving the alignment of post-hoc explanations with clinically meaningful ECG regions.
Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 19583 |
| Journal | Scientific reports |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 24 Jun 2026 |
| Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
| PubMedCentral | PMC13294490 |
|---|---|
| ORCID | /0000-0003-4012-0608/work/219266595 |
| ORCID | /0000-0002-1984-580X/work/219266626 |
| Scopus | 105042646931 |
Keywords
Keywords
- Transfer Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Humans, Electrocardiography/methods, Atrial Fibrillation/diagnosis, Convolutional Neural Networks