Use of Deep Learning and Blockchain Technologies in Healthcare Industry

This editorial summarises the special issue entitled "Deep Learning Blockchain-enabled Technology for Improved Healthcare Industrial Systems”, which deals with the intersection and use of deep learning and blockchain technologies in the healthcare industry. This special issue consists of eleven scientific articles. © 2023 by the author(s). Licensee Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic.

An Integrated Framework for COVID-19 Classification Based on Ensembles of Deep Features and Entropy Coded GLEO Feature Selection

COVID-19 is a challenging worldwide pandemic disease nowadays that spreads from person to person in a very fast manner. It is necessary to develop an automated technique for COVID-19 identification. This work investigates a new framework that predicts COVID-19 based on X-ray images. The suggested methodology contains core phases as preprocessing, feature extraction, selection and categorization. The Guided and 2D Gaussian filters are utilized for image improvement as a preprocessing phase. The outcome is then passed to 2D-superpixel method for region of interest (ROI). The pre-trained models such as Darknet-53 and Densenet-201 are then applied for features extraction from the segmented images. The entropy coded GLEO features selection is based on the extracted and selected features, and ensemble serially to produce a single feature vector. The single vector is finally supplied as an input to the variations of the SVM classifier for the categorization of the normal/abnormal (COVID-19) X-rays images. The presented approach is evaluated with different measures known as accuracy, recall, F1 Score, and precision. The integrated framework for the proposed system achieves the acceptable accuracies on the SVM Classifiers, which authenticate the proposed approach's effectiveness. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

Knowledge Evaluation of Hand Hygiene and Infectious Diseases in Lebanon

Background: Hand washing, also known as hand hygiene, is a simple procedure used for cleaning and cleansing hands for eliminating soil, dirt, and germs including microorganisms such are bacterial or viral particles. In the absence of water and soap, cinder can be used as an alternative method for cleaning hands. Hand hygiene is an essential part that needs to be carefully fol-lowed in the infection control protocols. With the expanding loads of Health-Care Associated Infections (HCAIs) and the increasing levels of both treatment complexity and severity of illness synchronized by multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogen infections, health care practitioners are fo-cusing on the basic and most essential facts of disease prevention by implementing the basic and simple cleaning measures including hand hygiene measures. According to healthcare facilities, many scientific evidences support the observation that hand hygiene or handwashing if properly im-plemented, can decrease and eliminate the risk factors of cross-transmission infections. Method(s): The data was collected using a self-administrated survey, which included 10 questions, constructed using the monkey survey website. The survey was sent by email and collected from 100 participants of different ages. Result(s): Our results indicated that the majority of our population under study is considered healthy, representing good educational levels. Conclusion(s): The majority revealed advanced knowledge and understanding about the key aspects for hand washing procedures.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

Detection of COVID-19 Cases from Chest X-Rays using Deep Learning Feature Extractor and Multilevel Voting Classifier

Purpose: During the current pandemic scientists, researchers, and health professionals across the globe are in search of new technological methods for tackling COVID-19. The magnificent performance reported by machine learning and deep learning methods in the previous epidemic has encouraged researchers to develop systems with these methods to diagnose COVID-19. Methods: In this paper, an ensemble-based multi-level voting model is proposed to diagnose COVID-19 from chest x-rays. The multi-level voting model proposed in this paper is built using four machine learning algorithms namely Random Forest (RF), Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a linear kernel, and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN). These algorithms are trained with features extracted using the ResNet50 deep learning model before merging them to form the voting model. In this work, voting is performed at two levels, at level 1 these four algorithms are grouped into 2 sets consisting of two algorithms each (set 1 - SVM with linear kernel and LR and set 2 - RF and KNN) and intra set hard voting is performed. At level 2 these two sets are merged using hard voting to form the proposed model. Results: The proposed multilevel voting model outperformed all the machine learning algorithms, pre-trained models, and other proposed works with an accuracy of 100% and specificity of 100%. Conclusion: The proposed model helps for the faster diagnosis of COVID-19 across the globe.

A Single Stream Modified MobileNet V2 and Whale Controlled Entropy Based Optimization Framework for Citrus Fruit Diseases Recognition

Fruit disease recognition is quickly becoming a hot topic in the field of computer vision. The presence of plant diseases not only reduces fruit production but also causes a significant loss to the national economy. Citrus fruits help to strengthen the immune system, allowing it to fight off diseases such as COVID-19. Manual inspection of fruit diseases with the naked eye takes time and is difficult;therefore, a computer based method is always required for accurate recognition of plant diseases. Several deep learning techniques for recognizing citrus fruit diseases have been introduced in the literature. Existing techniques had several issues, including redundant features, convolutional neural network (CNN) model selection, low contrast images, and long computational times. In this paper, single stream convolutional neural network architecture is proposed for recognizing citrus fruit diseases. In the first step, data augmentation is performed using four contrast enhancement operations: shadow removal, adjusting pixel intensity, improving brightness, and improving local contrast. The MobileNet-V2 CNN model is selected and fine-tuned in the second step. Using the transfer learning process, the fine-tuned model is trained on the augmented citrus dataset. The newly trained model is used for deep feature extraction;however, analysis shows that the extracted deep features contain little redundant information. As a result, an improved Whale Optimization Algorithm (IWOA) is used in the third step. The best features are then classified using machine learning classifiers in the final step. The augmented citrus fruits, leaves, and hybrid dataset were used in the experimental process and achieved an accuracy of 99.4, 99.5, and 99.7%. When compared to existing techniques, the proposed architecture outperformed them in terms of accuracy and time.

A Framework to Preserve and Examine Pandemic-Healthcare-Data Using IoMT

Resent advancement in networking and communication system helped to enhance various domains, including the healthcare. The invention of the cloud computing, Internet of medical things (IoMT), and artificial intelligence (AI) invented the Healthcare 4.0, which supports the monitoring and examination of a variety of medical information using the digital techniques. This research aims to develop a diagnostic framework for the pandemic-healthcare-data (PHD) using the IoMT scheme. The proposed framework considers the examination of the patients admitted with the COVID-19 infection and supports the following procedures;(i) collecting the preliminary information about the patient, (ii) collecting the disease information, (iii) getting the experts opinion regarding the treatment planning and implementation, (iv) monitoring the patient, and (v) preserving the disease information for future use. The proposed scheme is developed by considering the COVID-19 PHD, and the methodology employed is discussed with a chosen procedures. When this scheme is implemented, the preserved data can be used to develop a medical model, which supports a quick diagnosis and timely treatment to recover the patient. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

COVID-19 Classification Using Medical Image Synthesis by Generative Adversarial Networks

The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019, also called COVID-19, in Wuhan, China, began in December 2019. Since its outbreak, infectious disease has rapidly spread across the globe. The testing methods adopted by the medical practitioners gave false negatives, which is a big challenge. Medical imaging using deep learning can be adopted to speed up the testing process and avoid false negatives. This work proposes a novel approach, COVID-19 GAN, to perform coronavirus disease classification using medical image synthesis by a generative adversarial network. Detecting coronavirus infections from the chest X-ray images is very crucial for its early diagnosis and effective treatment. To boost the performance of the deep learning model and improve the accuracy of classification, synthetic data augmentation is performed using generative adversarial networks. Here, the available COVID-19 positive chest X-ray images are fed into the styleGAN2 model. The styleGAN model is trained, and the data necessary for training the deep learning model for coronavirus classification is generated. The generated COVID-19 positive chest X-ray images and the normal chest X-ray images are fed into the deep learning model for training. An accuracy of 99.78% is achieved in classifying chest X-ray images using CNN binary classifier model.

P2P-COVID-GAN: Classification and Segmentation of COVID-19 Lung Infections From CT Images Using GAN

Early and automatic segmentation of lung infections from computed tomography images of COVID-19 patients is crucial for timely quarantine and effective treatment. However, automating the segmentation of lung infection from CT slices is challenging due to a lack of contrast between the normal and infected tissues. A CNN and GAN-based framework are presented to classify and then segment the lung infections automatically from COVID-19 lung CT slices. In this work, the authors propose a novel method named P2P-COVID-SEG to automatically classify COVID-19 and normal CT images and then segment COVID-19 lung infections from CT images using GAN. The proposed model outperformed the existing classification models with an accuracy of 98.10%. The segmentation results outperformed existing methods and achieved infection segmentation with accurate boundaries. The Dice coefficient achieved using GAN segmentation is 81.11%. The segmentation results demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms the existing models and achieves state-of-the-art performance.

Res-UNet Supported Segmentation and Evaluation of COVID19 Lesion in Lung CT

COVID19 is one of the hash lung infections;which causes severe pneumonia in humans and untreated infection will lead to death. The goal of this study is to employ an automated Infection-Segmentation-Scheme (ISS) to extract and evaluate the COVID19 lesion on CT scans of the Lungs. This work implemented a Convolution-Neural-Network (CNN) scheme called Res-UNet to study the CT slices of the lungs. The various phases of this research involve in;(i) 3D to 2D conversion and resizing, (ii) Implementation of CNN segmentation scheme, (iii) Comparison of mined COVID19 lesion with Ground-Truth (GT) and (iv) Validation. In this study, 200 CT images (10 patients x 20 slices/patient) of dimension 224× 224× 3 pixels are considered for the assessment and the Image-Quality-Measures (IQM), like Jaccard, Dice ad Accuracy are computed between extracted lesion and the GT. The experimental outcome confirms that the result of Res-UNet is better on sagittal-view of CT compared to axial and coronal. © 2021 IEEE.

Optimal deep dense convolutional neural network based classification model for COVID-19 disease

Early diagnosis and detection are important tasks in controlling the spread of COVID-19. A number of Deep Learning techniques has been established by researchers to detect the presence of COVID-19 using CT scan images and X-rays. However, these methods suffer from biased results and inaccurate detection of the disease. So, the current research article developed Oppositional-based Chimp Optimization Algorithm and Deep Dense Convolutional Neural Network (OCOA-DDCNN) for COVID-19 prediction using CT images in IoT environment. The proposed methodology works on the basis of two stages such as pre-processing and prediction. Initially, CT scan images generated from prospective COVID-19 are collected from open-source system using IoT devices. The collected images are then preprocessed using Gaussian filter. Gaussian filter can be utilized in the removal of unwanted noise from the collected CT scan images. Afterwards, the preprocessed images are sent to prediction phase. In this phase, Deep Dense Convolutional Neural Network (DDCNN) is applied upon the pre-processed images. The proposed classifier is optimally designed with the consideration of Oppositional-based Chimp Optimization Algorithm (OCOA). This algorithm is utilized in the selection of optimal parameters for the proposed classifier. Finally, the proposed technique is used in the prediction of COVID-19 and classify the results as either COVID-19 or non-COVID-19. The projected method was implemented in MATLAB and the performances were evaluated through statistical measurements. The proposed method was contrasted with conventional techniques such as Convolutional Neural Network-Firefly Algorithm (CNN-FA), Emperor Penguin Optimization (CNN-EPO) respectively. The results established the supremacy of the proposed model. © 2021 Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.

Automated Segmentation of COVID-19 Lesion from Lung CT Images Using U-Net Architecture

Pneumonia caused by the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is emerged as a global threat and considerably affected a large population globally irrespective of their age, race, and gender. Due to its rapidity and the infection rate, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this disease as a pandemic. The proposed research work aims to develop an automated COVID-19 lesion segmentation system using the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture called the U-Net. The traditional U-Net scheme is employed to examine the COVID-19 infection present in the lung CT images. This scheme is implemented on the benchmark COVID-19 images existing in the literature (300 images) and the segmentation performance of the U-Net is confirmed by computing the essential performance measures using a relative assessment among the extracted lesion and the Ground-Truth (GT). The overall result attained with the proposed study confirms that, the U-Net scheme helps to get the better values for the performance values, such as Jaccard (>86%), Dice (>92%) and segmentation accuracy (>95%). © 2021, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.

Diagnosis of COVID-19 infection using three-dimensional semantic segmentation and classification of computed tomography images

Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) can cause severe pneumonia that may be fatal. Correct diagnosis is essential. Computed tomography (CT) usefully detects symptoms of COVID-19 infection. In this retrospective study, we present an improved framework for detection of COVID-19 infection on CT images;the steps include pre-processing, segmentation, feature extraction/ fusion/selection, and classification. In the pre-processing phase, a Gabor wavelet filter is applied to enhance image intensities. A marker-based, watershed controlled approach with thresholding is used to isolate the lung region. In the segmentation phase,COVID-19 lesions are segmented using an encoder- /decoder-based deep learning model in which deepLabv3 serves as the bottleneck and mobilenetv2 as the classification head. DeepLabv3 is an effective decoder that helps to refine segmentation of lesion boundaries. The model was trained using fine-tuned hyperparameters selected after extensive experimentation. Subsequently, the Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) features and statistical features including circularity, area, and perimeters were computed for each segmented image. The computed features were serially fused and the best features (those that were optimally discriminatory) selected using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) for classification. The performance of the method was evaluated using two benchmark datasets: The COVID-19 Segmentation and the POF Hospital datasets. The results were better than those of existing methods. © 2021 Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.

Classification of COVID-19 CT Scans via Extreme Learning Machine

Here, we use multi-type feature fusion and selection to predict COVID-19 infections on chest computed tomography (CT) scans. The scheme operates in four steps. Initially, we prepared a database containing COVID-19 pneumonia and normal CT scans. These images were retrieved from the Radiopaedia COVID-19 website. The images were divided into training and test sets in a ratio of 70:30. Then, multiple features were extracted from the training data. We used canonical correlation analysis to fuse the features into single vectors;this enhanced the predictive capacity. We next implemented a genetic algorithm (GA) in which an Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) served to assess GA fitness. Based on the ELM losses, the most discriminatory features were selected and saved as an ELM Model. Test images were sent to the model, and the best-selected features compared to those of the trained model to allow final predictions. Validation employed the collected chest CT scans. The best predictive accuracy of the ELM classifier was 93.9%;the scheme was effective.