Combining classical HRV indices with wavelet entropy measures improves to performance in diagnosing congestive heart failure

In this study, best combination of short-term heart rate variability (HRV) measures are sought for to distinguish 29 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) from 54 healthy subjects in the control group. In the analysis performed, in addition to the standard HRV measures, wavelet entropy measures are also used. A genetic algorithm is used to select the best ones from among all possible combinations of these measures. A k-nearest neighbor classifier is used to evaluate the performance of the feature combinations in classifying these two groups. The results imply that two combinations of all HRV measures, both of which include wavelet entropy measures, have the highest discrimination power in terms of sensitivity and specificity values.     

A comparison of different feature extraction methods for diagnosis of valvular heart diseases using PCG signals

This article presents a novel method for diagnosis of valvular heart disease (VHD) based on phonocardiography (PCG) signals. Application of the pattern classification and feature selection and reduction methods in analysing normal and pathological heart sound was investigated. After signal preprocessing using independent component analysis (ICA), 32 features are extracted. Those include carefully selected linear and nonlinear time domain, wavelet and entropy features. By examining different feature selection and feature reduction methods such as principal component analysis (PCA), genetic algorithms (GA), genetic programming (GP) and generalized discriminant analysis (GDA), the four most informative features are extracted. Furthermore, support vector machines (SVM) and neural network classifiers are compared for diagnosis of pathological heart sounds. Three valvular heart diseases are considered: aortic stenosis (AS), mitral stenosis (MS) and mitral regurgitation (MR). An overall accuracy of 99.47% was achieved by proposed algorithm.     

A new approach to detect congestive heart failure using Teager energy nonlinear scatter plot of R-R interval series

A novel approach to distinguish congestive heart failure (CHF) subjects from healthy subjects is proposed. Heart rate variability (HRV) is impaired in CHF subjects. In this work hypothesizing that capturing moment to moment nonlinear dynamics of HRV will reveal cardiac patterning, we construct the nonlinear scatter plot for Teager energy of R-R interval series. The key feature of Teager energy is that it models the energy of the source that generated the signal rather than the energy of the signal itself. Hence, any deviations in the genesis of HRV, by complex interactions of hemodynamic, electrophysiological, and humoral variables, as well as by the autonomic and central nervous regulations, get manifested in the Teager energy function. Comparison of the Teager energy scatter plot with the second-order difference plot (SODP) for normal and CHF subjects reveals significant differences qualitatively and quantitatively. We introduce the concept of curvilinearity for central tendency measures of the plots and define a radial distance index that reveals the efficacy of the Teager energy scatter plot over SODP in separating CHF subjects from healthy subjects. The k-nearest neighbor classifier with RDI as feature showed almost 100% classification rate.     

Support vector machine-based arrhythmia classification using reduced features of heart rate variability signal

OBJECTIVE: This paper presents an effective cardiac arrhythmia classification algorithm using the heart rate variability (HRV) signal. The proposed algorithm is based on the generalized discriminant analysis (GDA) feature reduction scheme and the support vector machine (SVM) classifier. METHODOLOGY: Initially 15 different features are extracted from the input HRV signal by means of linear and nonlinear methods. These features are then reduced to only five features by the GDA technique. This not only reduces the number of the input features but also increases the classification accuracy by selecting most discriminating features. Finally, the SVM combined with the one-against-all strategy is used to classify the HRV signals. RESULTS: The proposed GDA- and SVM-based cardiac arrhythmia classification algorithm is applied to input HRV signals, obtained from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database, to discriminate six different types of cardiac arrhythmia. In particular, the HRV signals representing the six different types of arrhythmia classes including normal sinus rhythm, premature ventricular contraction, atrial fibrillation, sick sinus syndrome, ventricular fibrillation and 2 degrees heart block are classified with an accuracy of 98.94%, 98.96%, 98.53%, 98.51%, 100% and 100%, respectively, which are better than any other previously reported results. CONCLUSION: An effective cardiac arrhythmia classification algorithm is presented. A main advantage of the proposed algorithm, compared to the approaches which use the ECG signal itself is the fact that it is completely based on the HRV (R-R interval) signal which can be extracted from even a very noisy ECG signal with a relatively high accuracy. Moreover, the usage of the HRV signal leads to an effective reduction of the processing time, which provides an online arrhythmia classification system. A main drawback of the proposed algorithm is however that some arrhythmia types such as left bundle branch block and right bundle branch block beats cannot be detected using only the features extracted from the HRV signal.     

心率变异性多参数分析的BP网络用于心衰诊断的研究

人工神经网络是由大量并行工作的神经元组成的智能仿生模型,它在模式识别领域已经展示出了广阔的应用前景。鉴于单一心率变异性(HRV)指标所表达出来的信息具有片面性,很难用一个单一的指标来完全分类充盈性心衰(CHF)患者和健康人的不足。本研究提出联合HRV信号分析的时域、频域、非线性方法,选取多个指标作为诊断CHF的特征参数,以BP神经网络为分类器实现对充盈性心衰的诊断。经过10 000次的训练、验证与仿真测试,该网络模型对于全样本集的识别正确率最优高达99.14%,平均可达86.97%。结果表明:联合线性(时域、频域)以及非线性分析方法可以更全面地揭示心脏的动力学特征,从而提高充盈性心衰的诊断正确率。     

Optimal feature selection for the assessment of vocal fold disorders

Unilateral vocal fold paralysis, vocal fold polyp, and vocal fold nodules are the most common types of neurogenic and organic vocal disorders. This article aims to distinguish these types of vocal diseases into four different classes for the purpose of automatic screening. Firstly, the reconstructed signal at each wavelet packet decomposition sub-band in five levels of decomposition with mother wavelet of (db10) is used to extract the nonlinear features of self-similarity and approximate entropy. Also, wavelet packet coefficients are used to measure energy and Shannon entropy features at different spectral sub-bands. Consequently, to find a discriminant feature vector, three different methods have been applied: Davies-Bouldin (DB) criteria, genetic algorithm (GA) with the fitness functions of support vector machine's (SVM) and k-nearest neighbor's (KNN) recognition rates. Finally, obtained feature vectors have been passed on to SVM and KNN classifiers. The results show that a feature vector of length 12 obtained by the optimization method of GA with the fitness function of SVM's recognition rate fed to SVM classifier achieves the highest classification accuracy of 91%. Furthermore, nonlinear features play an important role in pathological voice classification by participating rate of approximately 67% in the optimal feature vector.     

Automated detection of perinatal hypoxia using time–frequency-based heart rate variability features

Perinatal hypoxia is a cause of cerebral injury in foetuses and neonates. Detection of foetal hypoxia during labour based on the pattern recognition of heart rate signals suffers from high observer variability and low specificity. We describe a new automated hypoxia detection method using time–frequency analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) signals. This approach uses features extracted from the instantaneous frequency and instantaneous amplitude of HRV signal components as well as features based on matrix decomposition of the signals’ time–frequency distributions using singular value decomposition and non-negative matrix factorization. The classification between hypoxia and non-hypoxia data is performed using a support vector machine classifier. The proposed method is tested on a dataset obtained from a newborn piglet model with a controlled hypoxic insult. The chosen HRV features show strong performance compared to conventional spectral features and other existing methods of hypoxia detection with a sensitivity 93.3 %, specificity 98.3 % and accuracy 95.8 %. The high predictive value of this approach to detecting hypoxia is a substantial step towards developing a more accurate and reliable hypoxia detection method for use in human foetal monitoring.     

基于机器学习的心音识别分类研究

心音信号可反映心脏的病理信息,是诊断心脏健康的重要依据之一。本文首先从心音信号提取时频域、梅尔倒谱系数等145个特征作为机器学习的输入数据集,然后在随机森林、LightGBM、XGBoost、GBDT、SVM共5种分类器中选出效果最佳分类器与递归特征消除算法结合进行数据挖掘,找出重要特征集并对其分类效果做比较与分析,最后运用Stacking模型融合方法优化模型。数据挖掘特征子集比同数量特征子集在准确率、召回率、精确率、F1值上分别提高了33.51%、14.54%、20.61%、24.04%;采用LightGBM和SVM模型融合可将F1值提高至92.6%。本文提出了一种有效的心音识别分类方法,挖掘出心音最重要的8个特征,为临床诊断提供参考。     

基于HRV信号分析的人工神经网络用于CHF的诊断研究

建立了基于心率变异性(heart rate variability,HRV)信号分析的人工神经网络(artificial neural network,ANN)模型,以寻求用于充血性心衰(congestive heart failure,CHF)诊断的最佳向量-网络组合.结果表明,将经过改进的BP算法和小波分析所抽取的特征向量相结合所获得的神经网络在诊断敏感性和特异性上有着均衡且优良的表现,并且经由AR模型谱估计获取的向量价值也不亚于小波分析所提取的特征向量.因此,基于HRV信号分析的人工神经网络用于诊断CHF可作为临床诊断的一种重要参考方法.     

Identification of signatures in biomedical spectra using domain knowledge

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate that incorporating domain knowledge into feature selection methods helps identify interpretable features with predictive capability comparable to a state-of-the-art classifier. METHODS: Two feature selection methods, one using a genetic algorithm (GA) the other a L(1)-norm support vector machine (SVM), were investigated on three real-world biomedical magnetic resonance (MR) spectral datasets of increasing difficulty. Consensus sets of the feature sets obtained by the two methods were also assessed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Features identified independently by the two methods and by their consensus, determine class-discriminatory groups or individual features, whose predictive power compares favorably with that of a state-of-the-art classifier. Furthermore, the identified feature signatures form stable groupings at definite spectral positions, hence are readily interpretable. This is a useful and important practical result for generating hypothesis for the domain expert.     

EMG feature assessment for myoelectric pattern recognition and channel selection: A study with incomplete spinal cord injury

Myoelectric pattern recognition with a large number of electromyogram (EMG) channels provides an approach to assessing motor control information available from the recorded muscles. In order to develop a practical myoelectric control system, a feature dependent channel reduction method was developed in this study to determine a small number of EMG channels for myoelectric pattern recognition analysis. The method selects appropriate raw EMG features for classification of different movements, using the minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance (mRMR) and the Markov random field (MRF) methods to rank a large number of EMG features, respectively. A k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifier was used to evaluate the performance of the selected features in terms of classification accuracy. The method was tested using 57 channels’ surface EMG signals recorded from forearm and hand muscles of individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). Our results demonstrate that appropriate selection of a small number of raw EMG features from different recording channels resulted in similar high classification accuracies as achieved by using all the EMG channels or features. Compared with the conventional sequential forward selection (SFS) method, the feature dependent method does not require repeated classifier implementation. It can effectively reduce redundant information not only cross different channels, but also cross different features in the same channel. Such hybrid feature-channel selection from a large number of EMG recording channels can reduce computational cost for implementation of a myoelectric pattern recognition based control system.     

Cardiac state diagnosis using higher order spectra of heart rate variability

Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the regulation of the sinoatrial node, the natural pacemaker of the heart, by the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. Heart rate variability analysis is an important tool to observe the heart's ability to respond to normal regulatory impulses that affect its rhythm. A computer-based intelligent system for analysis of cardiac states is very useful in diagnostics and disease management. Like many bio-signals, HRV signals are nonlinear in nature. Higher order spectral analysis (HOS) is known to be a good tool for the analysis of nonlinear systems and provides good noise immunity. In this work, we studied the HOS of the HRV signals of normal heartbeat and seven classes of arrhythmia. We present some general characteristics for each of these classes of HRV signals in the bispectrum and bicoherence plots. We also extracted features from the HOS and performed an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The results are very promising for cardiac arrhythmia classification with a number of features yielding a p-value < 0.02 in the ANOVA test.     

Feature selection from nocturnal oximetry using genetic algorithms to assist in obstructive sleep apnoea diagnosis

Nocturnal pulse oximetry (NPO) has demonstrated to be a powerful tool to help in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) detection. However, additional analysis is needed to use NPO alone as an alternative to nocturnal polysomnography (NPSG), which is the gold standard for a definitive diagnosis. In the present study, we exhaustively analysed a database of blood oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) recordings (80 OSA-negative and 160 OSA-positive) to obtain further knowledge on the usefulness of NPO. Population set was randomly divided into training and test sets. A feature extraction stage was carried out: 16 features (time and frequency statistics and spectral and nonlinear features) were computed. A genetic algorithm (GA) approach was applied in the feature selection stage. Our methodology achieved 87.5% accuracy (90.6% sensitivity and 81.3% specificity) in the test set using a logistic regression (LR) classifier with a reduced number of complementary features (3 time domain statistics, 1 frequency domain statistic, 1 conventional spectral feature and 1 nonlinear feature) automatically selected by means of GAs. Our results improved diagnostic performance achieved with conventional oximetric indexes commonly used by physicians. We concluded that GAs could be an effective and robust tool to search for essential oximetric features that could enhance NPO in the context of OSA diagnosis.     

Evolving neural networks using a genetic algorithm for heartbeat classification

This study investigates the effectiveness of a genetic algorithm (GA) evolved neural network (NN) classifier and its application to the classification of premature ventricular contraction (PVC) beats. As there is no standard procedure to determine the network structure for complicated cases, generally the design of the NN would be dependent on the user's experience. To prevent this problem, we propose a neural classifier that uses a GA for the determination of optimal connections between neurons for better recognition. The MIT-BIH arrhythmia database is employed to evaluate its accuracy. First, the topology of the NN was determined using the trial and error method. Second, the genetic operators were carefully designed to optimize the neural network structure. Performance and accuracy of the two techniques are presented and compared.     

Predicting termination of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation using empirical mode decomposition of the atrial activity and statistical features of the heart rate variability

This paper presents an algorithm for predicting termination of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) attacks using features extracted from the atrial activity (AA) and heart rate variability (HRV) signals. First, AA signal was decomposed into a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) using empirical mode decomposition method. Then, power spectrums of the AA and its IMFs (second, third, and forth components) were obtained, and the peak frequency of the power spectral densities were extracted. These features were complemented with three additional features consisting of mean, skewness, and kurtosis of the HRV signal. These seven features were then reduced to only two features by the generalized discriminant analysis technique. This not only reduces the number of the input features but also increases the classification accuracy by selecting most discriminating features. Finally, a linear classifier was used to classify AF episodes from AF termination database. This database consists of three types of AF episodes: N type (non-terminated AF episode), S type (terminated 1 min after the end of the record), and T type (terminated immediately after the end of the record). The obtained sensitivity, specificity, positive predictivity, and negative predictivity were 94, 97, 92, and 96 %, respectively. The important advantage of the proposed method comparing to the other existing approaches is that our algorithm can simultaneously discriminate three types of AF episodes with high accuracy.     

High efficient system for automatic classification of the electrocardiogram beats

Automatic classification of the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals is an important subject for clinical diagnosis of heart disease. This study investigates the design of a high-efficient system to classify five types of ECG beat namely normal beats and four manifestations of heart arrhythmia, in twofold. First, we propose a system that includes two main modules: a feature extraction module and a classification module. Feature extraction module extracts a suitable combination of the ECG’s morphological characteristics and timing interval features. Discrete wavelet transform is used to extract the morphological features. In the classification module, a multi-class support vector machine (SVM)-based classifier is employed. The parameters of this system are determined based on a trial and error method and its performance is evaluated for the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. Extensive experiments on the parameters of this system such as classifier kernels and various types of features are conducted. These experiments show that in SVM training, the kernels, kernel parameters, and feature selection have very important roles for SVM classification accuracy. Therefore, most appropriates of these parameters should be used for SVM training. Then at the second fold, a novel hybrid intelligent system (HIS) is proposed that consists of three main modules. In the HIS, further to the two mentioned modules, an optimization module is added. In this module, a genetic algorithm is used for optimization of the relevant parameters of system. These parameters are: wavelet filter type for feature extraction, wavelet decomposition level, and classifier’s parameters. Experimental results show that optimization improves the recognition system, efficiently, and HIS is more superior to the system, which as constant parameters.     

Cardiac state diagnosis using higher order spectra of heart rate variability

Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the regulation of the sinoatrial node, the natural pacemaker of the heart, by the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. Heart rate variability analysis is an important tool to observe the heart's ability to respond to normal regulatory impulses that affect its rhythm. A computer-based intelligent system for analysis of cardiac states is very useful in diagnostics and disease management. Like many bio-signals, HRV signals are nonlinear in nature. Higher order spectral analysis (HOS) is known to be a good tool for the analysis of nonlinear systems and provides good noise immunity. In this work, we studied the HOS of the HRV signals of normal heartbeat and seven classes of arrhythmia. We present some general characteristics for each of these classes of HRV signals in the bispectrum and bicoherence plots. We also extracted features from the HOS and performed an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The results are very promising for cardiac arrhythmia classification with a number of features yielding a p-value <0.02 in the ANOVA test.     

A wavelet-based optimal texture feature set for classification of brain tumours

In this work, the classification of brain tumours in magnetic resonance images is studied by using optimal texture features. These features are used to classify three sets of brain images—normal brain, benign tumour and malignant tumour. A wavelet-based texture feature set is derived from the region of interest. Each selected brain region of interest is characterized with both its energy and texture features extracted from the selected high frequency subband. An artificial neural network classifier is employed to evaluate the performance of these features. Feature selection is performed by a genetic algorithm. Principal component analysis and classical sequential methods are compared against the genetic approach in terms of the best recognition rate achieved and the optimal number of features. A classification performance of 98% is achieved in a genetic algorithm with only four of the available 29 features. Principal component analysis and classical sequential methods require a larger feature set to attain the similar classification accuracy of 98%. The optimal texture features such as range of angular second moment, range of sum variance, range of information measure of correlation II and energy selected by the genetic algorithm provide best classification performance with lower computational effort.     

基于GA-RBF神经网络和sEMG的下肢动作识别方法研究

为了提高人体肌电信号对于下肢动作识别的准确率,提出一种基于遗传算法(GA)优化的径向基(RBF)神经网络分类模型.通过采集人体日常8种下肢动作的表面肌电信号并选择"sym6"系小波函数对肌电信号进行滤波预处理,使用主成分分析法(PCA)对时频域特征降维,把特征向量输入GA算法优化的RBF神经网络进行训练和识别.实验结果...