ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate that incorporating domain knowledge into feature selection methods helps identify interpretable features with predictive capability comparable to a state-of-the-art classifier. METHODS: Two feature selection methods, one using a genetic algorithm (GA) the other a L(1)-norm support vector machine (SVM), were investigated on three real-world biomedical magnetic resonance (MR) spectral datasets of increasing difficulty. Consensus sets of the feature sets obtained by the two methods were also assessed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Features identified independently by the two methods and by their consensus, determine class-discriminatory groups or individual features, whose predictive power compares favorably with that of a state-of-the-art classifier. Furthermore, the identified feature signatures form stable groupings at definite spectral positions, hence are readily interpretable. This is a useful and important practical result for generating hypothesis for the domain expert.