Provided is a system, method, and computer program product for creating a deep-learning model for processing image data. The method includes establishing dense connections between each layer of a plurality of layers of a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a plurality of preceding layers of the CNN, downsampling an input of each downsampling layer of a plurality of downsampling layers in a first branch of the CNN, and upsampling an input of each upsampling layer of a plurality of upsampling layers in a second branch of the CNN by convolving the input.