RESUMEN
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of machine learning classification techniques applied to nerve conduction studies (NCS) of motor and sensory signals for the automatic diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Two methodologies were tested. In the first methodology, motor signals recorded from the patients' median nerve were transformed into time-frequency spectrograms using the short-time Fourier transform (STFT). These spectrograms were then used as input to a deep two-dimensional convolutional neural network (CONV2D) for classification into two categories: patients and controls. In the second methodology, sensory signals from the patients' median and ulnar nerves were subjected to multilevel wavelet decomposition (MWD), and statistical and non-statistical features were extracted from the decomposed signals. These features were utilized to train and test classifiers. The classification target was set to three categories: normal subjects (controls), patients with mild CTS, and patients with moderate to severe CTS based on conventional electrodiagnosis results. The results of the classification analysis demonstrated that both methodologies surpassed previous attempts at automatic CTS diagnosis. The classification models utilizing the motor signals transformed into time-frequency spectrograms exhibited excellent performance, with average accuracy of 94%. Similarly, the classifiers based on the sensory signals and the extracted features from multilevel wavelet decomposition showed significant accuracy in distinguishing between controls, patients with mild CTS, and patients with moderate to severe CTS, with accuracy of 97.1%. The findings highlight the efficacy of incorporating machine learning algorithms into the diagnostic processes of NCS, providing a valuable tool for clinicians in the diagnosis and management of neuropathies such as CTS.
RESUMEN
Even though non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the most effective treatment for inflammatory conditions, they have been linked to negative side effects. A promising approach to mitigating potential risks, is the development of new compounds able to combine anti-inflammatory with antioxidant activity to enhance activity and reduce toxicity. The implication of reactive oxygen species in inflammatory conditions has been extensively studied, based on the pro-inflammatory properties of generated free radicals. Drugs with dual activity (i.e., inhibiting inflammation related enzymes, e.g., LOX-3 and scavenging free radicals, e.g., DPPH) could find various therapeutic applications, such as in cardiovascular or neurodegenerating disorders. The challenge we embarked on using deep learning was the creation of appropriate classification and regression models to discriminate pharmacological activity and selectivity as well as to discover future compounds with dual activity prior to synthesis. An accurate filter algorithm was established, based on knowledge from compounds already evaluated in vitro, that can separate compounds with low, moderate or high activity. In this study, we constructed a customized highly effective one dimensional convolutional neural network (CONV1D), with accuracy scores up to 95.2%, that was able to identify dual active compounds, being LOX-3 inhibitors and DPPH scavengers, as an indication of simultaneous anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Additionally, we created a highly accurate regression model that predicted the exact value of effectiveness of a set of recently synthesized compounds with anti-inflammatory activity, scoring a root mean square error value of 0.8. Eventually, we succeeded in observing the manner in which those newly synthesized compounds differentiate from each other, regarding a specific pharmacological target, using deep learning algorithms.