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General General

Artificial intelligence-based snakebite identification using snake images, snakebite wound images, and other modalities of information: A systematic review.

In International journal of medical informatics ; h5-index 49.0

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE : Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely applied in medical decision support systems. AI also plays an essential role in snakebite identification (SI). To date, no review has been conducted on AI-based SI. This work aims to identify, compare, and summarize the state-of-the-art AI methods in SI. Another objective is to analyze these methods and propose solutions for future directions.

METHODS : Searches were performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Engineering Village, and IEEE Xplore to identify the SI studies. The datasets, preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification algorithms of these studies were systematically reviewed. Then, their merits and defects were also analyzed and compared. Next, the quality of these studies was assessed by using the ChAIMAI checklist. Finally, solutions were proposed based on the limitations of current studies.

RESULTS : Twenty-six articles were included in the review. Traditional machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms were applied for the classification of snake images (Acc = 72 %∼98 %), wound images (Acc = 80 %∼100 %), and other modalities of information (Acc = 71.67 %∼97.6 %). According to the research quality assessment, one of the studies was considered to be of high quality. Most studies were flawed in data preparation, data understanding, validation, and deployment dimensions. In addition, we propose an active perception-based system framework for collecting images and bite forces and constructing a multi-modal dataset named "Digital Snake" to address the lack of high-quality datasets for DL algorithms to improve recognition accuracy and robustness. A Snakebite Identification, Treatment, and Management Assistive Platform architecture is also proposed as a decision support system for patients and doctors.

CONCLUSIONS : AI-based methods can quickly and accurately decide the snake species and classify venomous and non-venomous snakes. Current studies still have limitations in SI. Future studies based on AI methods should focus on constructing high-quality datasets and decision support systems for snakebite treatment.

Zhang Jun, Chen Xin, Song Aiguo, Li Xin

2023-Feb-24

Active perception, Machine learning, Medical decision support system, Multi-modal fusion, Snake image, Snakebite identification

General General

Image-based estimation of the left ventricular cavity volume using deep learning and Gaussian process with cardio-mechanical applications.

In Computerized medical imaging and graphics : the official journal of the Computerized Medical Imaging Society

In this investigation, an image-based method has been developed to estimate the volume of the left ventricular cavity using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging data. Deep learning and Gaussian processes have been applied to bring the estimations closer to the cavity volumes manually extracted. CMR data from 339 patients and healthy volunteers have been used to train a stepwise regression model that can estimate the volume of the left ventricular cavity at the beginning and end of diastole. We have decreased the root mean square error (RMSE) of cavity volume estimation approximately from 13 to 8 ml compared to the common practice in the literature. Considering the RMSE of manual measurements is approximately 4 ml on the same dataset, 8 ml of error is notable for a fully automated estimation method, which needs no supervision or user-hours once it has been trained. Additionally, to demonstrate a clinically relevant application of automatically estimated volumes, we inferred the passive material properties of the myocardium given the volume estimates using a well-validated cardiac model. These material properties can be further used for patient treatment planning and diagnosis.

Rabbani Arash, Gao Hao, Lazarus Alan, Dalton David, Ge Yuzhang, Mangion Kenneth, Berry Colin, Husmeier Dirk

2023-Feb-24

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, Deep learning, Gaussian process

Radiology Radiology

Centerline depth world for left atrial appendage orifice localization using reinforcement learning.

In Computerized medical imaging and graphics : the official journal of the Computerized Medical Imaging Society

Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion (LAAO) is a minimally invasive implant-based method to prevent cardiovascular stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Assessing the LAA orifice in preoperative CT angiography plays a crucial role in choosing an appropriate LAAO implant size and a proper C-arm angulation. However, accurate orifice localization is hard because of the high anatomic variation of LAA, and unclear position and orientation of the orifice in available CT views. With the major research focus being on LAA segmentation, the only existing computational method for orifice localization utilized a rule-based decision. Nonetheless, using such a fixed rule may yield high localization error due to the varied anatomy of LAA. While deep learning-based models usually show improvements under such variation, learning an effective localization model is difficult because of the tiny orifice structure compared to the vast search space of CT volume. In this paper, we propose a centerline depth-based reinforcement learning (RL) world for effective orifice localization in a small search space. In our scheme, an RL agent observes the centerline-to-surface distance and navigates through the LAA centerline to localize the orifice. Thus, the search space is significantly reduced facilitating improved localization. The proposed formulation could result in high localization accuracy compared to the expert annotations. Moreover, the localization process takes about 7.3 s which is 18 times more efficient than the existing method. Therefore, this can be a useful aid to physicians during the preprocedural planning of LAAO.

Al Walid Abdullah, Yun Il Dong, Chun Eun Ju

2023-Feb-24

Appendage occlusion, Centerline depth, Left atrial appendage, Orifice detection, Orifice localization, Reinforcement learning

Public Health Public Health

Does water temperature influence in microcystin production? A case study of Billings Reservoir, São Paulo, Brazil.

In Journal of contaminant hydrology

We investigated the relationship between some water quality parameters and microcystin, chlorophyll-a, and cyanobacteria in different conditions of water temperature. We also proposed to predict chlorophyll-a concentration in the Billings Reservoir using three machine learning techniques. Our results indicate that in the condition of higher water temperatures with high density of cyanobacteria, microcystin concentration can increase severely (>102 μg/L). Besides the magnitude observed in higher concentrations, in water temperatures above 25.3 °C (classified as high extreme event), higher frequencies of inadequate values of microcystin (87.5%), chlorophyll-a (70%), and cyanobacteria (82.5%) compared to cooler temperatures (<19.6 °C) were observed. The prediction of chlorophyll-a in Billings Reservoir presented good results (0.76 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.82; 0.17 ≤ RMSE≤0.20) using water temperature, total phosphorus, and cyanobacteria as predictors, with the best result using Support Vector Machine.

Godoy Rodrigo Felipe Bedim, Trevisan Elias, Battistelli André Aguiar, Crisigiovanni Enzo Luigi, do Nascimento Elynton Alves, da Fonseca Machado Artur Lourival

2023-Feb-17

Aquatic ecosystem, Extreme events, Machine learning, Public health, Toxin

General General

Reflections on measuring disordered thoughts as expressed via language.

In Psychiatry research ; h5-index 64.0

Thought disorder, as inferred from disorganized and incoherent speech, is an important part of the clinical presentation in schizophrenia. Traditional measurement approaches essentially count occurrences of certain speech events which may have restricted their usefulness. Applying speech technologies in assessment can help automate traditional clinical rating tasks and thereby complement the process. Adopting these computational approaches affords clinical translational opportunities to enhance the traditional assessment by applying such methods remotely and scoring various parts of the assessment automatically. Further, digital measures of language may help detect subtle clinically significant signs and thus potentially disrupt the usual manner by which things are conducted. If proven beneficial to patient care, methods where patients' voice are the primary data source could become core components of future clinical decision support systems that improve risk assessment. However, even if it is possible to measure thought disorder in a sensitive, reliable and efficient manner, there remain many challenges to then translate into a clinically implementable tool that can contribute towards providing better care. Indeed, embracing technology - notably artificial intelligence - requires vigorous standards for reporting underlying assumptions so as to ensure a trustworthy and ethical clinical science.

Elvevåg Brita

2023-Feb-06

Assessment, Language, Memory

General General

AlphaFold-multimer predicts ATG8 protein binding motifs crucial for autophagy research.

In PLoS biology

In this issue of PLOS Biology, Ibrahim and colleagues demonstrate how AlphaFold-multimer, an artificial intelligence-based structure prediction tool, can be used to identify sequence motifs binding to the ATG8 family of proteins central to autophagy.

Olsvik Hallvard Lauritz, Johansen Terje

2023-Feb