Automated classification of brain tumors by deep learning-based models on magnetic resonance images using a developed web-based interface

Abstract

Objective: Primary central nervous system tumors (PCNSTs) compose nearly 3% of newly diagnosed cancers worldwide and are more common in men. The incidence of brain tumors and PCNSTs-related deaths are gradually increasing all over the world. Recently, many studies have focused on automated machine learning (AutoML) algorithms which are developed using deep learning algorithms on medical imaging applications. The main purposes of this study are -to demonstrate the use of artificial intelligence-based techniques to predict medical images of different brain tumors (glioma, meningioma, pituitary adenoma) to provide technical support to radiologists, and -to develop a user-friendly and free web-based software to classify brain tumors for making quick and accurate clinical decisions. 
 
 Materials and Methods: Open-sourced T1-weighted magnetic resonance brain tumor images were achieved from Nanfang Hospital, Guangzhou, China, and General Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, To construct the proposed system which web-based interface and the deep learning-based models, the Keras/Auto-Keras library, which is employed in Python's programming language, is used. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, G-mean, F-score, and Matthews correlation coefficient metrics were used for performance evaluations.
 
 Results: While 80% (2599 instances) of the dataset was used in the training phase, 20% (465 instances) was employed in the testing phase. All the performance metrics were higher than 98% for the classification of brain tumors on the training data set. Similarly, all the evaluation metrics were higher than 91% except for sensitivity and MCC for meningioma on the testing dataset.
 
 Conclusion: The results from the experiment reveal that the proposed software can be used to detect and diagnose three types of brain tumors. This developed web-based software can be accessed freely in both English and Turkish at http://biostatapps.inonu.edu.tr/BTSY/.