A robust DWT–CNN‐based CAD system for early diagnosis of autism using task‐based fMRI

Purpose Task‐based fMRI (TfMRI) is a diagnostic imaging modality for observing the effects of a disease or other condition on the functional activity of the brain. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder associated with impairments in social and linguistic abilities. Machine learning algorithms have been widely utilized for brain imaging aiming for objective ASD diagnostics. Recently, deep learning methods have been gaining more attention for fMRI classification. The goal of this paper is to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN)‐based framework to help in global diagnosis of ASD using TfMRI data that are collected from a response to speech experiment. Methods To achieve this goal, the proposed framework adopts a novel imaging marker integrating both spatial and temporal information that are related to the functional activity of the brain. The developed pipeline consists of three main components. In the first step, the collected TfMRI data are preprocessed and parcellated using the Harvard–Oxford probabilistic atlas included with the fMRIB Software Library (FSL). Second, a group analysis using FSL is performed between ASD and typically developing (TD) children to identify significantly activated brain areas in response to the speech task. In order to reduce brain spatial dimensionality, a K‐means clustering technique is performed on such significant brain areas. Informative blood oxygen level‐dependent (BOLD) signals are extracted from each cluster. A compression step for each extracted BOLD signal using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been proposed. The adopted wavelets are similar to the expected hemodynamic response which enables DWT to compress the BOLD signal while highlighting its activation information. Finally, a deep learning 2D CNN network is used to classify the patients as ASD or TD based on extracted features from the previous step. Results Preliminary results on 100 TfMRI dataset (50 ASD, 50 TD) obtain 80% correct global classification using tenfold cross validation (with sensitivity = 84%, specificity = 76%). Conclusion The experimental results show the high accuracy of the proposed framework and hold promise for the presented framework as a helpful adjunct to currently used ASD diagnostic tools.