Interpretation of Brain Morphology in Association to Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia Classification Using Graph Convolutional Networks on Triangulated Meshes

Emanuel A. Azcona*, Pierre Besson, Yunan Wu, Arjun Punjabi, Adam Martersteck, Amil Dravid, Todd B. Parrish, S. Kathleen Bandt, Aggelos K. Katsaggelos

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

We propose a mesh-based technique to aid in the classification of Alzheimer’s disease dementia (ADD) using mesh representations of the cortex and subcortical structures. Deep learning methods for classification tasks that utilize structural neuroimaging often require extensive learning parameters to optimize. Frequently, these approaches for automated medical diagnosis also lack visual interpretability for areas in the brain involved in making a diagnosis. This work: (a) analyzes brain shape using surface information of the cortex and subcortical structures, (b) proposes a residual learning framework for state-of-the-art graph convolutional networks which offer a significant reduction in learnable parameters, and (c) offers visual interpretability of the network via class-specific gradient information that localizes important regions of interest in our inputs. With our proposed method leveraging the use of cortical and subcortical surface information, we outperform other machine learning methods with a 96.35% testing accuracy for the ADD vs. healthy control problem. We confirm the validity of our model by observing its performance in a 25-trial Monte Carlo cross-validation. The generated visualization maps in our study show correspondences with current knowledge regarding the structural localization of pathological changes in the brain associated to dementia of the Alzheimer’s type.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationShape in Medical Imaging - International Workshop, ShapeMI 2020, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2020, Proceedings
EditorsMartin Reuter, Martin Reuter, Christian Wachinger, Hervé Lombaert, Hervé Lombaert, Beatriz Paniagua, Orcun Goksel, Islem Rekik
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages95-107
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)9783030610555
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020
EventInternational Workshop on Shape in Medical Imaging, ShapeMI 2020, held in conjunction with the 23rd International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2020 - Lima, Peru
Duration: Oct 4 2020Oct 4 2020

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume12474 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

ConferenceInternational Workshop on Shape in Medical Imaging, ShapeMI 2020, held in conjunction with the 23rd International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2020
Country/TerritoryPeru
CityLima
Period10/4/2010/4/20

Funding

This work was funded in part by the Biomedical Data Driven Discovery Training Grant from the National Library of Medicine (5T32LM012203) through Northwestern University, and the National Institute on Aging. The authors would also like to thank the QUEST High Performance Computing Cluster at Northwestern University for computational resources. Data collection and sharing for this project was funded by the Alzheimer?s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Data collection and sharing for this project was funded by the Alzheimer?s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) (National Institutes of Health Grant U01 AG024904) and DOD ADNI (Department of Defense award number W81XWH-12-2-0012). ADNI is funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and through generous contributions from the following: AbbVie, Alzheimer?s Association; Alzheimer?s Drug Discovery Foundation; Araclon Biotech; BioClinica, Inc.; Biogen; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; CereSpir, Inc.; Cogstate; Eisai Inc.; Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; EuroImmun; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and its affiliated company Genentech, Inc.; Fujirebio; GE Healthcare; IXICO Ltd.; Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy Research & Development, LLC.; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC.; Lumosity; Lundbeck; Merck & Co., Inc.; Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC.; NeuroRx Research; Neurotrack Technologies; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Pfizer Inc.; Piramal Imaging; Servier; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company; and Transition Therapeutics. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is providing funds to support ADNI clinical sites in Canada. Private sector contributions are facilitated by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (https://www.fnih.org). The grantee organization is the Northern California Institute for Research and Education, and the study is coordinated by the Alzheimer?s Therapeutic Research Institute at the University of Southern California. ADNI data are disseminated by the Laboratory for Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California. Data collection and sharing for this project was funded by the Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Data collection and sharing for this project was funded by the Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) (National Institutes of Health Grant U01 AG024904) and DOD ADNI (Department of Defense award number W81XWH-12-2-0012). ADNI is funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and through generous contributions from the following: AbbVie, Alzheimer\u2019s Association; Alzheimer\u2019s Drug Discovery Foundation; Araclon Biotech; BioClinica, Inc.; Biogen; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; CereSpir, Inc.; Cogstate; Eisai Inc.; Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; EuroImmun; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and its affiliated company Genen-tech, Inc.; Fujirebio; GE Healthcare; IXICO Ltd.; Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy Research & Development, LLC.; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC.; Lumosity; Lundbeck; Merck & Co., Inc.; Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC.; NeuroRx Research; Neurotrack Technologies; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Pfizer Inc.; Piramal Imaging; Servier; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company; and Transition Therapeutics. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is providing funds to support ADNI clinical sites in Canada. Private sector contributions are facilitated by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (https://www.fnih.org). The grantee organization is the Northern California Institute for Research and Education, and the study is coordinated by the Alzheimer\u2019s Therapeutic Research Institute at the University of Southern California. ADNI data are disseminated by the Laboratory for Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California. Acknowledgements. This work was funded in part by the Biomedical Data Driven Discovery Training Grant from the National Library of Medicine (5T32LM012203)

Keywords

  • Alzheimer’s disease classification
  • Graph convolutional networks
  • Neural network interpretability
  • Triangulated meshes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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