Multimodal and Multiscale Deep Neural Networks for the Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease using structural MR and FDG-PET images

Sci Rep. 2018 Apr 9;8(1):5697. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22871-z.

Abstract

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease where biomarkers for disease based on pathophysiology may be able to provide objective measures for disease diagnosis and staging. Neuroimaging scans acquired from MRI and metabolism images obtained by FDG-PET provide in-vivo measurements of structure and function (glucose metabolism) in a living brain. It is hypothesized that combining multiple different image modalities providing complementary information could help improve early diagnosis of AD. In this paper, we propose a novel deep-learning-based framework to discriminate individuals with AD utilizing a multimodal and multiscale deep neural network. Our method delivers 82.4% accuracy in identifying the individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who will convert to AD at 3 years prior to conversion (86.4% combined accuracy for conversion within 1-3 years), a 94.23% sensitivity in classifying individuals with clinical diagnosis of probable AD, and a 86.3% specificity in classifying non-demented controls improving upon results in published literature.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnostic imaging*
  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging*
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / metabolism
  • Deep Learning
  • Early Diagnosis
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Middle Aged
  • Multimodal Imaging / methods*
  • Neural Networks, Computer
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods
  • Radiopharmaceuticals / metabolism*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18