A deep learning approach for non-invasive Alzheimer's monitoring using microwave radar data.

Journal: Neural networks : the official journal of the International Neural Network Society
PMID:

Abstract

Over 50 million people globally suffer from Alzheimer's disease (AD), emphasizing the need for efficient, early diagnostic tools. Traditional methods like Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) scans are expensive, bulky, and slow. Microwave-based techniques offer a cost-effective, non-invasive, and portable solution, diverging from conventional neuroimaging practices. This article introduces a deep learning approach for monitoring AD , using realistic numerical brain phantoms to simulate scattered signals via the CST Studio Suite. The obtained data is preprocessed using normalization, standardization, and outlier removal to ensure data integrity. Furthermore, we propose a novel data augmentation technique to enrich the dataset across various AD stages. Our deep learning approach combines Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE) with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Autoencoders (AE) for optimal feature selection. Convolution Neural Network (CNN) is combined with Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (Bidirectional-LSTM), and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) to improve classification performance. The integration of RFE-PCA-AE significantly elevates performance, with the CNN+GRU model achieving an 87% accuracy rate, thus outperforming existing studies.

Authors

  • Farhatullah
    School of Computer Science, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. Electronic address: farhatkhan8398@cug.edu.cn.
  • Xin Chen
    University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
  • Deze Zeng
    School of Computer Science, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. Electronic address: deze.zeng@ieee.org.
  • Rahmat Ullah
    School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, Essex, United Kingdom. Electronic address: rahmat.ullah@essex.ac.uk.
  • Rab Nawaz
    School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, Essex, United Kingdom. Electronic address: rab.nawaz@essex.ac.uk.
  • Jiafeng Xu
    School of Automation, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. Electronic address: xujiafeng@cug.edu.cn.
  • Tughrul Arslan
    School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK. Electronic address: tughrul.arslan@ed.ac.uk.