Identification of brain tumors and accurate grading at an early stage are crucial in cancer diagnosis, as a timely diagnosis can increase the chances of survival. Considering the challenges and risks of tumor biopsies, noninvasive imaging procedures such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are extensively used in analyzing brain tumors. Recent advances in the field of medical imaging with deep learning using three dimensional (3D) MRI is aiding the clinical experts significantly in the diagnosis of brain tumor. In this study, three BraTS MRI datasets named BraTS 2018, BraTS 2019 and BraTS 2020 are employed to classify brain tumor into high-grade glioma (HGG) and low-grade glioma (LGG) where each of the datasets contains four different sequences of 3D MRI brain images named T1-weighted MRI (T1), T1-weighted MRI with contrast enhancement (T1ce), T2-weighted MRI (T2), and Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) for a single patient. This research is composed of two approaches where, in the first part, we propose a hybrid deep learning model named TimeDistributed-CNN-LSTM (TD-CNN-LSTM) combining 3D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) where each layer of the architecture is wrapped with a TimeDistributed function. The objective of developing the hybrid model is to consider all the four 3D MRI sequences of each patient as a single input data because every sequence contains necessary information on tumor that can have an impact on improving cancer detection performance. However, interpreting all the MRI sequences together with optimal performance especially in 3D is quite challenging. Therefore, the model is developed with optimal configuration based on highest accuracy performing ablation study for layer architecture and hyper-parameters. In the second part, a 3D CNN model is trained respectively with each of the MRI sequences to compare the performance with TD-CNN-LSTM model. In this regard, for both of the models, BraTS 2018 and BraTS 2019 are combined to increase the number of images and used as train dataset where BraTS 2020 dataset is employed as the test dataset. Moreover, before training the models the datasets is preprocessed to ensure the highest performance. Our results of these two approaches demonstrate that the TD-CNN-LSTM network outperforms 3D CNN achieving the highest test accuracy of 98.90%. Later, to evaluate the performance consistency, the TD-CNN-LSTM model is evaluated with K-fold cross validation using different k values. The approach of putting together all the MRI sequences at a time using hybrid CNN-LSTM approach with good generalization capability to classify brain tumor can be used effectively in future Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) based research which can aid radiologists in medical diagnostics.

Background: Identification and treatment of breast cancer at an early stage can reduce mortality. Currently, mammography is the most widely used effective imaging technique in breast cancer detection. However, an erroneous mammogram based interpretation may result in false diagnosis rate, as distinguishing cancerous masses from adjacent tissue is often complex and error-prone. Methods: Six pre-trained and fine-tuned deep CNN architectures: VGG16, VGG19, MobileNetV2, ResNet50, DenseNet201, and InceptionV3 are evaluated to determine which model yields the best performance. We propose a BreastNet18 model using VGG16 as foundational base, since VGG16 performs with the highest accuracy. An ablation study is performed on BreastNet18, to evaluate its robustness and achieve the highest possible accuracy. Various image processing techniques with suitable parameter values are employed to remove artefacts and increase the image quality. A total dataset of 1442 preprocessed mammograms was augmented using seven augmentation techniques, resulting in a dataset of 11,536 images. To investigate possible overfitting issues, a k-fold cross validation is carried out. The model was then tested on noisy mammograms to evaluate its robustness. Results were compared with previous studies. Results: Proposed BreastNet18 model performed best with a training accuracy of 96.72%, a validating accuracy of 97.91%, and a test accuracy of 98.02%. In contrast to this, VGGNet19 yielded test accuracy of 96.24%, MobileNetV2 77.84%, ResNet50 79.98%, DenseNet201 86.92%, and InceptionV3 76.87%. Conclusions: Our proposed approach based on image processing, transfer learning, fine-tuning, and ablation study has demonstrated a high correct breast cancer classification while dealing with a limited number of complex medical images.

Graph neural network (GNN) is a formidable deep learning framework that enables the analysis and modeling of intricate relationships present in data structured as graphs. In recent years, a burgeoning interest has arisen in exploiting the latent capabilities of GNN for healthcare-based applications, capitalizing on their aptitude for modeling complex relationships and unearthing profound insights from graph-structured data. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has systemically reviewed the GNN studies conducted in the healthcare domain. This study has furnished an all-encompassing and erudite overview of the prevailing cutting-edge research on GNN in healthcare. Through analysis and assimilation of studies, current research trends, recurrent challenges, and promising future opportunities in GNN for healthcare applications have been identified. China emerged as the leading country to conduct GNN-based studies in the healthcare domain, followed by the USA, UK, and Turkey. Among various aspects of healthcare, disease prediction and drug discovery emerge as the most prominent areas of focus for GNN application, indicating the potential of GNN for advancing diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. This study proposed research questions regarding diverse aspects of GNN in the healthcare domain and addressed them through an in-depth analysis. This study can provide practitioners and researchers with profound insights into the current landscape of GNN applications in healthcare and can guide healthcare institutes, researchers, and governments by demonstrating the ways in which GNN can contribute to the development of effective and efficient healthcare systems.

Heart disease can be life-threatening if not detected and treated at an early stage. The electrocardiogram (ECG) plays a vital role in classifying cardiovascular diseases, and often physicians and medical researchers examine paper-based ECG images for cardiac diagnosis. An automated heart disease prediction system might help to classify heart diseases accurately at an early stage. This study aims to classify cardiac diseases into five classes with paper-based ECG images using a deep learning approach with the highest possible accuracy and the lowest possible time complexity. This research consists of two approaches. In the first approach, five deep learning models, InceptionV3, ResNet50, MobileNetV2, VGG19, and DenseNet201, are employed. In the second approach, an integrated deep learning model (InRes-106) is introduced, combining InceptionV3 and ResNet50. This model is developed as a deep convolutional neural network capable of extracting hidden and high-level features from images. An ablation study is conducted on the proposed model altering several components and hyperparameters, improving the performance even further. Before training the model, several image pre-processing techniques are employed to remove artifacts and enhance the image quality. Our proposed hybrid InRes-106 model performed best with a testing accuracy of 98.34%. The InceptionV3 model acquired a testing accuracy of 90.56%, the ResNet50 89.63%, the DenseNet201 88.94%, the VGG19 87.87%, and the MobileNetV2 achieved 80.56% testing accuracy. The model is trained with a k-fold cross-validation technique with different k values to evaluate the robustness further. Although the dataset contains a limited number of complex ECG images, our proposed approach, based on various image pre-processing techniques, model fine-tuning, and ablation studies, can effectively diagnose cardiac diseases.

Breast cancer stands as the second most deadly form of cancer among women worldwide. Early diagnosis and treatment can significantly mitigate mortality rates. The study aims to classify breast ultrasound images into benign and malignant tumors. This approach involves segmenting the breast's region of interest (ROI) employing an optimized UNet architecture and classifying the ROIs through an optimized shallow CNN model utilizing an ablation study. Several image processing techniques are utilized to improve image quality by removing text, artifacts, and speckle noise, and statistical analysis is done to check the enhanced image quality is satisfactory. With the processed dataset, the segmentation of breast tumor ROI is carried out, optimizing the UNet model through an ablation study where the architectural configuration and hyperparameters are altered. After obtaining the tumor ROIs from the fine-tuned UNet model (RKO-UNet), an optimized CNN model is employed to classify the tumor into benign and malignant classes. To enhance the CNN model's performance, an ablation study is conducted, coupled with the integration of an attention unit. The model's performance is further assessed by classifying breast cancer with mammogram images. The proposed classification model (RKONet-13) results in an accuracy of 98.41 %. The performance of the proposed model is further compared with five transfer learning models for both pre-segmented and post-segmented datasets. K-fold cross-validation is done to assess the proposed RKONet-13 model's performance stability. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed model is compared with previous literature, where the proposed model outperforms existing methods, demonstrating its effectiveness in breast cancer diagnosis. Lastly, the model demonstrates its robustness for breast cancer classification, delivering an exceptional performance of 96.21 % on a mammogram dataset. The efficacy of this study relies on image pre-processing, segmentation with hybrid attention UNet, and classification with fine-tuned robust CNN model. This comprehensive approach aims to determine an effective technique for detecting breast cancer within ultrasound images.