An Overview of Disease Prediction based on Graph Convolutional Neural Network

Abstract

Geometric deep learning provides a principled and universal way for the integration of imaging and non-imaging modes in the medical field. Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) have been widely explored in a variety of problems, such as disease prediction, segmentation, and matrix completion. Using large, multi-modal data sets, graphs can capture the interaction of individual elements represented as nodes in the graphs. In particular, in medical applications, nodes can represent individuals (patients or healthy controls) in a potentially large population and are accompanied by a set of features, while the edges of the graph contain the associations between subjects in an intuitive way. This representation allows the inclusion of rich imaging and non-imaging information as well as individual subject characteristics in the task of disease classification. This article gives an overview of graph convolutional neural networks, focusing on the application of graph convolutional neural networks in disease prediction, and discusses the challenges and prospects of graph convolutional neural networks in disease prediction.