Computer assisted diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using statistical likelihood-ratio test

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 17;18(2):e0279574. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279574. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to present a computer assisted diagnostic tool for radiologists in their diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. A statistical likelihood-ratio procedure from signal detection theory was implemented in the detection of Alzheimer's disease. The probability density functions of the likelihood ratio were constructed by using medial temporal lobe (MTL) volumes of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and normal controls (NC). The volumes of MTL as well as other anatomical regions of the brains were calculated by the FreeSurfer software using T1 weighted MRI images. The MRI images of AD and NC were downloaded from the database of Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative (ADNI). A separate dataset of minimal interval resonance imaging in Alzheimer's disease (MIRIAD) was used for diagnostic testing. A sensitivity of 89.1% and specificity of 87.0% were achieved for the MIRIAD dataset which are better than the 85% sensitivity and specificity achieved by the best radiologists without input of other patient information.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / diagnostic imaging
  • Cognitive Dysfunction*
  • Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Temporal Lobe

Grants and funding

This study was funded in part by Charles Sturt University (APC support). No additional external funding was received for this study