Joel E.W. Koh

Application of entropies for automated diagnosis of epilepsy using EEG signals

Epilepsy can be detected using EEG signals.The entropy indicates the complexity of the EEG signal.Various entropies are used to diagnose epilepsy.Unique ranges for various entropies are proposed. Epilepsy is the neurological disorder of the brain which is difficult to diagnose visually using Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Hence, an automated detection of epilepsy using EEG signals will be a useful tool in medical field. The automation of epilepsy detection using signal processing techniques such as wavelet transform and entropies may optimise the performance of the system. Many algorithms have been developed to diagnose the presence of seizure in the EEG signals. The entropy is a nonlinear parameter that reflects the complexity of the EEG signal. Many entropies have been used to differentiate normal, interictal and ictal EEG signals. This paper discusses various entropies used for an automated diagnosis of epilepsy using EEG signals. We have presented unique ranges for various entropies used to differentiate normal, interictal, and ictal EEG signals and also ranked them depending on the ability to discrimination ability of three classes. These entropies can be used to classify the different stages of epilepsy and can also be used for other biomedical applications.

A Novel Depression Diagnosis Index Using Nonlinear Features in EEG Signals.

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by persistent occurrences of lower mood states in the affected person. The electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are highly complex, nonlinear, and nonstationary in nature. The characteristics of the signal vary with the age and mental state of the subject. The signs of abnormality may be invisible to the naked eyes. Even when they are visible, deciphering the minute changes indicating abnormality is tedious and time consuming for the clinicians. This paper presents a novel method for automated EEG-based diagnosis of depression using nonlinear methods: fractal dimension, largest Lyapunov exponent, sample entropy, detrended fluctuation analysis, Hursts exponent, higher order spectra, and recurrence quantification analysis. A novel Depression Diagnosis Index (DDI) is presented through judicious combination of the nonlinear features. The DDI calculated automatically based on the EEG recordings can be used to diagnose depression objectively using just one numeric value. Also, these features extracted from nonlinear methods are ranked using the t value and fed to the support vector machine (SVM) classifier. The SVM classifier yielded the highest classification performance with an average accuracy of about 98%, sensitivity of about 97%, and specificity of about 98.5%.

Automated detection and localization of myocardial infarction using electrocardiogram

Identification and timely interpretation of changes occurring in the 12 electrocardiogram (ECG) leads is crucial to identify the types of myocardial infarction (MI). However, manual annotation of this complex nonlinear ECG signal is not only cumbersome and time consuming but also inaccurate. Hence, there is a need of computer aided techniques to be applied for the ECG signal analysis process. Going further, there is a need for incorporating this computerized software into the ECG equipment, so as to enable automated detection of MIs in clinics. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel method of automated detection and localization of MI by using ECG signal analysis. In our study, a total of 200 twelve lead ECG subjects (52 normal and 148 with MI) involving 611,405 beats (125,652 normal beats and 485,753 beats of MI ECG) are segmented from the 12 lead ECG signals. Firstly, ECG signal obtained from 12 ECG leads are subjected to discrete wavelet transform (DWT) up to four levels of decomposition. Then, 12 nonlinear features namely, approximate entropy ( E a x ), signal energy (?x), fuzzy entropy ( E f x ), Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy ( E k s x ), permutation entropy ( E p x ), Renyi entropy ( E r x ), Shannon entropy ( E s h x ), Tsallis entropy ( E t s x ), wavelet entropy ( E w x ), fractal dimension ( F D x ), Kolmogorov complexity ( C k x ), and largest Lyapunov exponent ( E L L E x ) are extracted from these DWT coefficients. The extracted features are then ranked based on the t value. Then these features are fed into the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifier one by one to get the highest classification performance by using minimum number of features. Our proposed method has achieved the highest average accuracy of 98.80%, sensitivity of 99.45% and specificity of 96.27% in classifying normal and MI ECG (two classes), by using 47 features obtained from lead 11 (V5). We have also obtained the highest average accuracy of 98.74%, sensitivity of 99.55% and specificity of 99.16% in differentiating the 10 types of MI and normal ECG beats (11 class), by using 25 features obtained from lead 9 (V3). In addition, our study results achieved an accuracy of 99.97% in locating inferior posterior infarction by using only lead 9 (V3) ECG signal. Our proposed method can be used as an automated diagnostic tool for (i) the detection of different (10 types of) MI by using 12 lead ECG signal, and also (ii) to locate the MI by analyzing only one lead without the need to analyze other leads. Thus, our proposed algorithm and computerized system software (incorporated into the ECG equipment) can aid the physicians and clinicians in accurate and faster location of MIs, and thereby providing adequate time available for the requisite treatment decision.

Automated screening system for retinal health using bi-dimensional empirical mode decomposition and integrated index

Posterior Segment Eye Diseases (PSED) namely Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), glaucoma and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are the prime causes of vision loss globally. Vision loss can be prevented, if these diseases are detected at an early stage. Structural abnormalities such as changes in cup-to-disc ratio, Hard Exudates (HE), drusen, Microaneurysms (MA), Cotton Wool Spots (CWS), Haemorrhages (HA), Geographic Atrophy (GA) and Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV) in PSED can be identified by manual examination of fundus images by clinicians. However, manual screening is labour-intensive, tiresome and time consuming. Hence, there is a need to automate the eye screening. In this work Bi-dimensional Empirical Mode Decomposition (BEMD) technique is used to decompose fundus images into 2D Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) to capture variations in the pixels due to morphological changes. Further, various entropy namely Renyi, Fuzzy, Shannon, Vajda, Kapur and Yager and energy features are extracted from IMFs. These extracted features are ranked using Chernoff Bound and Bhattacharyya Distance (CBBD), Kullback-Leibler Divergence (KLD), Fuzzy-minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance (FmRMR), Wilcoxon, Receiver Operating Characteristics Curve (ROC) and t-test methods. Further, these ranked features are fed to Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier to classify normal and abnormal (DR, AMD and glaucoma) classes. The performance of the proposed eye screening system is evaluated using 800 (Normal=400 and Abnormal=400) digital fundus images and 10-fold cross validation method. Our proposed system automatically identifies normal and abnormal classes with an average accuracy of 88.63%, sensitivity of 86.25% and specificity of 91% using 17 optimal features ranked using CBBD and SVM-Radial Basis Function (RBF) classifier. Moreover, a novel Retinal Risk Index (RRI) is developed using two significant features to distinguish two classes using single number. Such a system helps to reduce eye screening time in polyclinics or community-based mass screening. They will refer the patients to main hospitals only if the diagnosis belong to the abnormal class. Hence, the main hospitals will not be unnecessarily crowded and doctors can devote their time for other urgent cases.

Automated characterization of fatty liver disease and cirrhosis using curvelet transform and entropy features extracted from ultrasound images

Fatty liver disease (FLD) is reversible disease and can be treated, if it is identified at an early stage. However, if diagnosed at the later stage, it can progress to an advanced liver disease such as cirrhosis which may ultimately lead to death. Therefore, it is essential to detect it at an early stage before the disease progresses to an irreversible stage. Several non-invasive computer-aided techniques are proposed to assist in the early detection of FLD and cirrhosis using ultrasound images. In this work, we are proposing an algorithm to discriminate automatically the normal, FLD and cirrhosis ultrasound images using curvelet transform (CT) method. Higher order spectra (HOS) bispectrum, HOS phase, fuzzy, Kapoor, max, Renyi, Shannon, Vajda and Yager entropies are extracted from CT coefficients. These extracted features are subjected to locality sensitive discriminant analysis (LSDA) feature reduction method. Then these LSDA coefficients ranked based on F-value are fed to different classifiers to choose the best performing classifier using minimum number of features. Our proposed technique can characterize normal, FLD and cirrhosis using probabilistic neural network (PNN) classifier with an accuracy of 97.33%, specificity of 100.00% and sensitivity of 96.00% using only six features. In addition, these chosen features are used to develop a liver disease index (LDI) to differentiate the normal, FLD and cirrhosis classes using a single number. This can significantly help the radiologists to discriminate FLD and cirrhosis in their routine liver screening.

Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Depression Using EEG Signals

The complex, nonlinear and non-stationary electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are very tedious to interpret visually and highly difficult to extract the significant features from them. The linear and nonlinear methods are effective in identifying the changes in EEG signals for the detection of depression. Linear methods do not exhibit the complex dynamical variations in the EEG signals. Hence, chaos theory and nonlinear dynamic methods are widely used in extracting the EEG signal features for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of depression. Hence, this article presents the recent efforts on CAD of depression using EEG signals with a focus on using nonlinear methods. Such a CAD system is simple to use and may be used by the clinicians as a tool to confirm their diagnosis. It should be of a particular value to enable the early detection of depression.

Novel risk index for the identification of age-related macular degeneration using radon transform and DWT features

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) affects the central vision of aged people. It can be diagnosed due to the presence of drusen, Geographic Atrophy (GA) and Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV) in the fundus images. It is labor intensive and time-consuming for the ophthalmologists to screen these images. An automated digital fundus photography based screening system can overcome these drawbacks. Such a safe, non-contact and cost-effective platform can be used as a screening system for dry AMD. In this paper, we are proposing a novel algorithm using Radon Transform (RT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) coupled with Locality Sensitive Discriminant Analysis (LSDA) for automated diagnosis of AMD. First the image is subjected to RT followed by DWT. The extracted features are subjected to dimension reduction using LSDA and ranked using t-test. The performance of various supervised classifiers namely Decision Tree (DT), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) and k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) are compared to automatically discriminate to normal and AMD classes using ranked LSDA components. The proposed approach is evaluated using private and public datasets such as ARIA and STARE. The highest classification accuracy of 99.49%, 96.89% and 100% are reported for private, ARIA and STARE datasets. Also, AMD index is devised using two LSDA components to distinguish two classes accurately. Hence, this proposed system can be extended for mass AMD screening.

Nonlinear Dynamics Measures for Automated EEG-Based Sleep Stage Detection

Background: The brains continuous neural activity during sleep can be monitored by electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The EEG wave pattern and frequency vary during five stages of sleep. These subtle variations in sleep EEG signals cannot be easily detected through visual inspection. Summary: A range of time, frequency, time-frequency and nonlinear analysis methods can be applied to understand the complex physiological signals and their chaotic behavior. This paper presents a comprehensive comparative review and analysis of 29 nonlinear dynamics measures for EEG-based sleep stage detection. Key Messages: The characteristic ranges of these features are reported for the five different sleep stages. All nonlinear measures produce clinically significant results, that is, they can discriminate the individual sleep stages. Feature ranking based on the statistical F-value, however, shows that the third order cumulant of higher order spectra yields the most discriminative result. The distinct value ranges for each sleep stage and the discriminative power of the features can be used for sleep disorder diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and drug efficacy assessment.

A novel algorithm to detect glaucoma risk using texton and local configuration pattern features extracted from fundus images

Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy defined by characteristic damage to the optic nerve and accompanying visual field deficits. Early diagnosis and treatment are critical to prevent irreversible vision loss and ultimate blindness. Current techniques for computer-aided analysis of the optic nerve and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) are expensive and require keen interpretation by trained specialists. Hence, an automated system is highly desirable for a cost-effective and accurate screening for the diagnosis of glaucoma. This paper presents a new methodology and a computerized diagnostic system. Adaptive histogram equalization is used to convert color images to grayscale images followed by convolution of these images with Leung-Malik (LM), Schmid (S), and maximum response (MR4 and MR8) filter banks. The basic microstructures in typical images are called textons. The convolution process produces textons. Local configuration pattern (LCP) features are extracted from these textons. The significant features are selected using a sequential floating forward search (SFFS) method and ranked using the statistical t-test. Finally, various classifiers are used for classification of images into normal and glaucomatous classes. A high classification accuracy of 95.8% is achieved using six features obtained from the LM filter bank and the k-nearest neighbor (kNN) classifier. A glaucoma integrative index (GRI) is also formulated to obtain a reliable and effective system.

Local configuration pattern features for age-related macular degeneration characterization and classification

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is an irreversible and chronic medical condition characterized by drusen, Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV) and Geographic Atrophy (GA). AMD is one of the major causes of visual loss among elderly people. It is caused by the degeneration of cells in the macula which is responsible for central vision. AMD can be dry or wet type, however dry AMD is most common. It is classified into early, intermediate and late AMD. The early detection and treatment may help one to stop the progression of the disease. Automated AMD diagnosis may reduce the screening time of the clinicians. In this work, we have introduced LCP to characterize normal and AMD classes using fundus images. Linear Configuration Coefficients (CC) and Pattern Occurrence (PO) features are extracted from fundus images. These extracted features are ranked using p-value of the t-test and fed to various supervised classifiers viz. Decision Tree (DT), Nearest Neighbour (k-NN), Naive Bayes (NB), Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) to classify normal and AMD classes. The performance of the system is evaluated using both private (Kasturba Medical Hospital, Manipal, India) and public domain datasets viz. Automated Retinal Image Analysis (ARIA) and STructured Analysis of the Retina (STARE) using ten-fold cross validation. The proposed approach yielded best performance with a highest average accuracy of 97.78%, sensitivity of 98.00% and specificity of 97.50% for STARE dataset using 22 significant features. Hence, this system can be used as an aiding tool to the clinicians during mass eye screening programs to diagnose AMD.