Deep transfer learning-based fully automated detection and classification of Alzheimer's disease on brain MRI.

objectivesTo employ different automated convolutional neural network (CNN)-based transfer learning (TL) methods for both binary and multiclass classification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) using brain MRI.

methodsHerein, we applied three popular pre-trained CNN models (ResNet101, Xception, and InceptionV3) using a fine-tuned approach of TL on 3D

resultsThe proposed TL-based CNN models achieved better performance compared to the training CNN models from scratch. On the ADNI test set, InceptionV3-TL achieved the highest accuracy of 93.75% and AUC of 92.0% for binary classification, as well as the highest accuracy of 93.75% and AUC of 96.0% for multiclass classification of AD on the whole images. On the OASIS test set, InceptionV3-TL outperformed two other models by achieving 93.33% accuracy with 93.0% AUC in binary classification of AD on the whole images. On the AIBL test set, InceptionV3-TL also outperformed two other models in both binary and multiclass classification tasks on the whole MR images and achieved accuracy/AUC of 93.33%/95.0% and 90.0%/93.0%, respectively. The GM segment as input provided the highest performance in both binary and multiclass classification of AD, as compared to the WM and CSF segments.

conclusionThis study demonstrates the potential of applying deep TL approach for automated detection and classification of AD using brain MRI with high accuracy and robustness across internal and external test data, suggesting that these models can possibly be used as a supportive tool to assist clinicians in creating objective opinion and correct diagnosis. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: We used CNN-based TL approaches and the augmentation techniques to overcome the insufficient data problem. Our study provides evidence that deep TL algorithms can be used for both binary and multiclass classification of AD with high accuracy.