Integrating machine learning with region-based active contour models in medical image segmentation

This article introduces an advanced vital sign monitoring system that seamlessly integrates sensor technology, wireless communication, and machine learning (ML) algorithms to enhance patient care. The system accurately records and interprets vital physiological metrics such as oxygen saturation (SpO2), heart rate (HR), and body temperature. The integration forms the foundation of our comprehensive approach to patient health status classification through the ML algorithm. We employed three distinct ML algorithms—K-nearest neighbors (KNNs), support vector machines (SVMs), and stochastic gradient descent (SGD) models to analyze health states, each precisely trained and validated using data collected from sensors on vital sign. This meticulous training aims to enable the models to accurately identify various patient health states, with the KNN model achieving an average accuracy of 92%, while the SVM and SGD models attained even higher accuracies of 94% and 97%, respectively. These outcomes were rigorously validated against established health scoring systems, showcasing the models’ exceptional performance in multiclass classification scenarios. This is further evidenced by their area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) scores: KNN (0.9021), SVM (0.9841), and SGD (0.9933). The integration of these technologies into our health monitoring system represents a significant advancement in the continuous and comprehensive assessment of patient health, demonstrating the potential of modern technologies to revolutionize healthcare monitoring and management.

This paper proposes a novel approach for achieving sustainable energy systems in unexpected sports event management by integrating machine learning and optimization algorithms. Specifically, we used reinforcement learning for peak load forecasting and bat evolutionary algorithm for optimization, since the energy management problem in sports events is typically non-linear. Machine learning algorithms, specifically reinforcement learning, are used to analyze historical data and provide accurate peak load forecasts. This information can then be used to optimize energy consumption during the event through the use of algorithms such as the bat evolutionary algorithm, which can effectively solve non-linear optimization problems. The integration of these algorithms in unexpected sports event management can lead to significant improvements in sustainability and cost-effectiveness. This paper presents a case study of the implementation of reinforcement learning and bat evolutionary algorithms in an unexpected sports event management scenario, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach in achieving sustainable energy systems and reducing overall energy consumption. Overall, this paper provides a roadmap for integrating machine learning and optimization algorithms, such as reinforcement learning and bat evolutionary algorithm, in unexpected sports event management to achieve sustainable energy systems, promoting a more sustainable future for the sports event industry and the planet as a whole.

The diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is currently based on clinical evaluation. Despite clinical hallmarks, unfortunately, the error rate is still significant. Low in-vivo diagnostic accuracy of clinical evaluation mainly relies on the lack of quantitative biomarkers for an objective motor performance assessment. Non-invasive technologies, such as wearable sensors, coupled with machine learning algorithms, assess quantitatively and objectively the motor performances, with possible benefits either for in-clinic and at-home settings. We conducted a systematic review of the literature on machine learning algorithms embedded in smart devices in Parkinson's disease diagnosis. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we searched PubMed for articles published between December, 2007 and July, 2023, using a search string combining "Parkinson's disease" AND ("healthy" or "control") AND "diagnosis", within the Groups and Outcome domains. Additional search terms included "Algorithm", "Technology" and "Performance". From 89 identified studies, 47 met the inclusion criteria based on the search string and four additional studies were included based on the Authors' expertise. Gait emerged as the most common parameter analysed by machine learning models, with Support Vector Machines as the prevalent algorithm. The results suggest promising accuracy with complex algorithms like Random Forest, Support Vector Machines, and K-Nearest Neighbours. Despite the promise shown by machine learning algorithms, real-world applications may still face limitations. This review suggests that integrating machine learning with wearable sensors has the potential to improve Parkinson's disease diagnosis. These tools could provide clinicians with objective data, potentially aiding in earlier detection.

This paper introduces a novel benchmarking framework based on fractional Brownian motion (fBm) for evaluating advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. The approach leverages the statistical structure of fBm to generate theoretically grounded, high-dimensional datasets of unlimited size, enabling reproducible and scalable model evaluation under controlled stochastic conditions. Rather than predicting the supremum or infimum of fBm paths directly, the proposed benchmark focuses on estimating a nonlinear functional derived from path extremes –a transformation that depends on the joint behavior of the supremum, infimum, and range of future segments. This formulation produces a complex, highly nonlinear target function that tests the limits of ML methods in functional estimation, particularly under noise, drift, and persistence variations. Comparisons across six ML architectures reveal a striking scaling paradox: while model performance is broadly comparable at small data sizes (N = 102), a sharp divergence emerges at scale (N = 104), where global mapping models (LR, MLP) converge to high predictive accuracy (R2 ≈ 0.96) while local and ensemble methods suffer a total generalization collapse to deeply negative R2 values. The benchmark is readily tunable through parameters including the Hurst exponent (H), drift (μ), and temporal horizon, enabling systematic stress-testing across both persistent and rough-path regimes. Six widely used ML algorithms were evaluated on this benchmark: Linear Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting (GB), Support Vector Machines (SVM), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), and k-Nearest Neighbours (kNN). Overall, the fBm-based benchmark highlights the intrinsic difficulty of learning nonlinear functionals of stochastic paths and provides a tunable, mathematically robust environment for assessing algorithmic robustness. This framework offers a rigorous, scalable testbed for advancing the development and comparison of ML methods under complex, noise-dominated dynamics.

Several machine learning (ML) algorithms have been increasingly utilized for cardiovascular disease prediction. We aim to assess and summarize the overall predictive ability of ML algorithms in cardiovascular diseases. A comprehensive search strategy was designed and executed within the MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus databases from database inception through March 15, 2019. The primary outcome was a composite of the predictive ability of ML algorithms of coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and cardiac arrhythmias. Of 344 total studies identified, 103 cohorts, with a total of 3,377,318 individuals, met our inclusion criteria. For the prediction of coronary artery disease, boosting algorithms had a pooled area under the curve (AUC) of 0.88 (95% CI 0.84–0.91), and custom-built algorithms had a pooled AUC of 0.93 (95% CI 0.85–0.97). For the prediction of stroke, support vector machine (SVM) algorithms had a pooled AUC of 0.92 (95% CI 0.81–0.97), boosting algorithms had a pooled AUC of 0.91 (95% CI 0.81–0.96), and convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithms had a pooled AUC of 0.90 (95% CI 0.83–0.95). Although inadequate studies for each algorithm for meta-analytic methodology for both heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias because the confidence intervals overlap between different methods, showing no difference, SVM may outperform other algorithms in these areas. The predictive ability of ML algorithms in cardiovascular diseases is promising, particularly SVM and boosting algorithms. However, there is heterogeneity among ML algorithms in terms of multiple parameters. This information may assist clinicians in how to interpret data and implement optimal algorithms for their dataset.

Land degradation from gully erosion poses a significant threat to the Erer watershed in Eastern Ethiopia, particularly due to agricultural activities and resource exploitation. Identifying erosion-prone areas and underlying factors using advanced machine learning algorithms (MLAs) and geospatial analysis is crucial for addressing this problem and prioritizing adaptive and mitigating strategies. However, previous studies have not leveraged machine learning (ML) and GIS-based approaches to generate susceptibility maps identifying these areas and conditioning factors, hindering sustainable watershed management solutions. This study aimed to predict gully erosion susceptibility (GES) and identify underlying areas and factors in the Erer watershed. Four ML models, namely, XGBoost, random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and artificial neural network (ANN), were integrated with geospatial analysis using 22 geoenvironmental predictors and 1,200 inventory points (70% used for training and 30% for testing). Model performance and robustness were validated through the area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, kappa coefficient, F1 score, and logarithmic loss. The relative slope position is most influential, with 100% importance in SVM and RF and 95% importance in XGBoost, while annual rainfall (AR) dominated ANN (100% importance). Notably, XGBoost demonstrated robustness and superior prediction/mapping, achieving an AUC of 0.97, 91% accuracy, 92% precision, and 81% kappa while maintaining a low logloss (0.0394). However, SVM excelled in classifying gully resistant/susceptible areas (97% sensitivity, 98% specificity, and 91% F1 score). The ANN model predicted the most areas with very high gully susceptibility (13.74%), followed by the SVM (11.69%), XGBoost (10.65%), and RF (7.85%) models, while XGBoost identified the most areas with very low susceptibility (70.19%). The ensemble technique was employed to further enhance GES modeling, and it outperformed the individual models, achieving an AUC of 0.99, 93.5% accuracy, 92.5% precision, 97.5% sensitivity, 95.4% specificity, 85.8% kappa, and 94.9% F1 score. This technique also classified the GES of the watershed as 36.48% very low, 26.51% low, 16.24% moderate, 11.55% high, and 9.22% very high. Furthermore, district-level analyses revealed the most susceptible areas, including the Babile, Fedis, Harar, and Meyumuluke districts, with high GES areas of 32.4%, 21.3%, 14.3%, and 13.6%, respectively. This study offers robust and flexible ML models with comprehensive validation metrics to enhance GES modeling and identify gully prone areas and factors, thereby supporting decision-making for sustainable watershed conservation and land degradation prevention.

Undernutrition among children under the age of five is a major public health concern, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to use machine learning (ML) algorithms to predict undernutrition and identify its associated factors. Secondary data analysis of the 2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) was performed using R and Python. The main outcomes of interest were undernutrition (stunting: height-for-age (HAZ) < -2 SD; wasting: weight-for-height (WHZ) < -2 SD; and underweight: weight-for-age (WAZ) < -2 SD). Seven ML algorithms were trained and tested: linear discriminant analysis (LDA), logistic model, support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), ridge regression, and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost). The ML models were evaluated using the accuracy, confusion matrix, and area under the curve (AUC) receiver operating characteristics (ROC). In total, 8564 children were included in the final analysis. The average age of the children was 926 days, and the majority were females. The weighted prevalence rates of stunting, wasting, and underweight were 17%, 7%, and 12%, respectively. The accuracies of all the ML models for wasting were (LDA: 84%; Logistic: 95%; SVM: 92%; RF: 94%; LASSO: 96%; Ridge: 84%, XGBoost: 98%), stunting (LDA: 86%; Logistic: 86%; SVM: 98%; RF: 88%; LASSO: 86%; Ridge: 86%, XGBoost: 98%), and for underweight were (LDA: 90%; Logistic: 92%; SVM: 98%; RF: 89%; LASSO: 92%; Ridge: 88%, XGBoost: 98%). The AUC values of the wasting models were (LDA: 99%; Logistic: 100%; SVM: 72%; RF: 94%; LASSO: 99%; Ridge: 59%, XGBoost: 100%), for stunting were (LDA: 89%; Logistic: 90%; SVM: 100%; RF: 92%; LASSO: 90%; Ridge: 89%, XGBoost: 100%), and for underweight were (LDA: 95%; Logistic: 96%; SVM: 100%; RF: 94%; LASSO: 96%; Ridge: 82%, XGBoost: 82%). Age, weight, length/height, sex, region of residence and ethnicity were important predictors of wasting, stunting and underweight. The XGBoost model was the best model for predicting wasting, stunting, and underweight. The findings showed that different ML algorithms could be useful for predicting undernutrition and identifying important predictors for targeted interventions among children under five years in Ghana.

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a global public health crisis, continues to pose challenges despite preventive measures. The daily rise in COVID-19 cases is concerning, and the testing process is both time-consuming and costly. While several models have been created to predict mortality in COVID-19 patients, only a few have shown sufficient accuracy. Machine learning algorithms offer a promising approach to data-driven prediction of clinical outcomes, surpassing traditional statistical modeling. Leveraging machine learning (ML) algorithms could potentially provide a solution for predicting mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop and validate machine-learning models for accurately predicting mortality in COVID-19 hospitalized patients in Ethiopia.MethodsOur study involved analyzing electronic medical records of COVID-19 patients who were admitted to public hospitals in Ethiopia. Specifically, we developed seven different machine learning models to predict COVID-19 patient mortality. These models included J48 decision tree, random forest (RF), k-nearest neighborhood (k-NN), multi-layer perceptron (MLP), Naïve Bayes (NB), eXtreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and logistic regression (LR). We then compared the performance of these models using data from a cohort of 696 patients through statistical analysis. To evaluate the effectiveness of the models, we utilized metrics derived from the confusion matrix such as sensitivity, specificity, precision, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC).ResultsThe study included a total of 696 patients, with a higher number of females (440 patients, accounting for 63.2%) compared to males. The median age of the participants was 35.0 years old, with an interquartile range of 18–79. After conducting different feature selection procedures, 23 features were examined, and identified as predictors of mortality, and it was determined that gender, Intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and alcohol drinking/addiction were the top three predictors of COVID-19 mortality. On the other hand, loss of smell, loss of taste, and hypertension were identified as the three lowest predictors of COVID-19 mortality. The experimental results revealed that the k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) algorithm outperformed than other machine learning algorithms, achieving an accuracy of 95.25%, sensitivity of 95.30%, precision of 92.7%, specificity of 93.30%, F1 score 93.98% and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) score of 96.90%. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the k-NN algorithm in predicting COVID-19 outcomes based on the selected features.ConclusionOur study has developed an innovative model that utilizes hospital data to accurately predict the mortality risk of COVID-19 patients. The main objective of this model is to prioritize early treatment for high-risk patients and optimize strained healthcare systems during the ongoing pandemic. By integrating machine learning with comprehensive hospital databases, our model effectively classifies patients' mortality risk, enabling targeted medical interventions and improved resource management.Among the various methods tested, the K-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm demonstrated the highest accuracy, allowing for early identification of high-risk patients. Through KNN feature identification, we identified 23 predictors that significantly contribute to predicting COVID-19 mortality. The top five predictors are gender (female), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, alcohol drinking, smoking, and symptoms of headache and chills.This advancement holds great promise in enhancing healthcare outcomes and decision-making during the pandemic. By providing services and prioritizing patients based on the identified predictors, healthcare facilities and providers can improve the chances of survival for individuals. This model provides valuable insights that can guide healthcare professionals in allocating resources and delivering appropriate care to those at highest risk.

This study presents a comparative analysis of the classification performance of facial and emotion recognition systems using Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) algorithms. The primary objective of this work is to evaluate the applicability of emotion recognition in fields such as psychotherapy and crime analysis, using the FER-2013 dataset.The study was conducted with ML algorithms such as Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forest (RF), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Decision Trees, and Gradient Boosting, as well as the DL algorithm, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Supported by the application of feature selection, preprocessing, and feature extraction techniques, the model’s performance was measured using standard metrics such as accuracy, precision, F1-score, and AUC-ROC.The experimental results showed that the highest classification accuracy (46.61%) was achieved with the CNN model. While the ML models generally offered lower accuracy, they provided advantages in terms of computational efficiency in specific scenarios.This study aims to contribute to the literature by providing a comparative analysis of ML and DL algorithms and by highlighting the effect of data preprocessing on performance. The findings set targets for future work, such as real-time system integration and hybrid model development.

ObjectiveEnhanced technology in computer and internet has driven scale and quality of data to be improved in various areas including healthcare sectors. Machine Learning (ML) has played a pivotal role in efficiently analyzing those big data, but a general misunderstanding of ML algorithms still exists in applying them (e.g., ML techniques can settle a problem of small sample size, or deep learning is the ML algorithm). This paper reviewed the research of diagnosing mental illness using ML algorithm and suggests how ML techniques can be employed and worked in practice.MethodsResearches about mental illness diagnostic using ML techniques were carefully reviewed. Five traditional ML algorithms-Support Vector Machines (SVM), Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM), Random Forest, Naïve Bayes, and K-Nearest Neighborhood (KNN)-frequently used for mental health area researches were systematically organized and summarized.ResultsBased on literature review, it turned out that Support Vector Machines (SVM), Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM), Random Forest, Naïve Bayes, and K-Nearest Neighborhood (KNN) were frequently employed in mental health area, but many researchers did not clarify the reason for using their ML algorithm though every ML algorithm has its own advantages. In addition, there were several studies to apply ML algorithms without fully understanding the data characteristics.ConclusionResearchers using ML algorithms should be aware of the properties of their ML algorithms and the limitation of the results they obtained under restricted data conditions. This paper provides useful information of the properties and limitation of each ML algorithm in the practice of mental health.

This paper aims toward the successful detection of harmful materials in a substance by integrating machine learning (ML) into laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). LIBS is used to distinguish five different synthetic polymers where eight different heavy material contents are also detected by LIBS. Each material intensity-wavelength graph is obtained and the dataset is constructed for classification by a machine learning (ML) algorithm. Seven popular machine learning algorithms are applied to the dataset which include eight different substances with their wavelength-intensity value. Machine learning algorithms are used to train the dataset, results are discussed and which classification algorithm is appropriate for this dataset is determined.

A new method of segmentation for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images using the skewness wavelet energy has been presented. The skewness is the third order cumulant which measures the local texture along the region-based active contour. Nonlinearity in intensity inhomogeneities often occur in SAR images due to the speckle noise. In this paper we propose a region-based active contour model that is able to use the intensity information in local regions and to cope with the speckle noise and nonlinear intensity inhomogeneity of SAR images. We use a wavelet coefficients energy distribution to analyze the SAR image texture in each sub-band. A fitting energy called skewness wavelet energy is defined in terms of a contour and a functional so that, the regions and their interfaces will be modeled by level set functions. A functional relationship has been calculated on these level sets in terms of the third order cumulant, from which an energy minimization is derived. Minimizing the calculated functions derives the optimal segmentation based on the texture definitions. The results of the implemented algorithm on the test images from the Radarsat SAR images of agricultural and urban regions show a desirable performance of the proposed method.

Identification and application of the best-suited machine learning algorithm based on thermal comfort data characteristic: A data-driven approach

In this paper, we simplify the model of local binary model and propose an improved region-based active contour model for medical image segmentation. Our model combines the advantages of the simplification of local binary fitting model by taking the local intensity information and the speed function using the minimal variance term, which enable the model to cope with intensity inhomogeneity. We define an energy functional with a local intensity fitting term and the minimal variance term. In the associated curve evolution, the motion of the contour is driven by a local intensity fitting force and the minimal variance force that make the contour evolve to the edge wherever it is. The proposed model has been applied to medical image segmentation with promising results.

Aim: Machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) predictive models have been employed widely in clinical settings. Their potential support and aid to the clinician of providing an objective measure that can be shared among different centers enables the possibility of building more robust multicentric studies. This study aimed to propose a user-friendly and low-cost tool for COVID-19 mortality prediction using both an ML and a DL approach. Method: We enrolled 2348 patients from several hospitals in the Province of Reggio Emilia. Overall, 19 clinical features were provided by the Radiology Units of Azienda USL-IRCCS of Reggio Emilia, and 5892 radiomic features were extracted from each COVID-19 patient’s high-resolution computed tomography. We built and trained two classifiers to predict COVID-19 mortality: a machine learning algorithm, or support vector machine (SVM), and a deep learning model, or feedforward neural network (FNN). In order to evaluate the impact of the different feature sets on the final performance of the classifiers, we repeated the training session three times, first using only clinical features, then employing only radiomic features, and finally combining both information. Results: We obtained similar performances for both the machine learning and deep learning algorithms, with the best area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, or AUC, obtained exploiting both clinical and radiomic information: 0.803 for the machine learning model and 0.864 for the deep learning model. Conclusions: Our work, performed on large and heterogeneous datasets (i.e., data from different CT scanners), confirms the results obtained in the recent literature. Such algorithms have the potential to be included in a clinical practice framework since they can not only be applied to COVID-19 mortality prediction but also to other classification problems such as diabetic prediction, asthma prediction, and cancer metastases prediction. Our study proves that the lesion’s inhomogeneity depicted by radiomic features combined with clinical information is relevant for COVID-19 mortality prediction.