Diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease Using Dynamic High-Order Brain Networks

Investigators
Dinggang Shen, Pew-Thian Yap
Contact info (email)
ptyap@med.unc.edu
1. Define context(s)
aid in clinical decision making
identify/explore new therapies
reveal new biological insights
Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Extensive
Primary goal of the model/tool/database

The Brain Network Construction and Classification (BrainNetClass v1.1) toolbox is designed for neuroscientists interested in using advanced brain functional connectomics, beyond simple Pearson’s correlation, for individualized disease diagnosis. The toolbox provides an easy-to-use automated pipeline that converts regional blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) resting-state functional MRI time series to high-order dynamic brain functional networks.

Biological domain of the model
blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal
Structure(s) of interest in the model
Brain
Spatial scales included in the model
Not Applicable
Time scales included in the model
Not Applicable
2. Data for building and validating the model
Data for building the model Published? Private? How is credibility checked? Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
in vitro (primary cells cell, lines, etc.)
ex vivo (excised tissues)
in vivo pre-clinical (lower-level organism or small animal)
in vivo pre-clinical (large animal)
Human subjects/clinical Yes Public It's from the ADNI dataset. Adequate
Other: ________________________
Data for validating the model Published? Private? How is credibility checked? Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
in vitro (primary cells cell, lines, etc.)
ex vivo (excised tissues)
in vivo pre-clinical (lower-level organism or small animal)
in vivo pre-clinical (large animal)
Human subjects/clinical Yes Public Eyes open and closed fMRI data from the Beijing Eyes Open Eyes Closed Study (http://fcon_1000.projects.nitrc.org/indi/retro/BeijingEOEC.html). It has been used in many researches. Adequate
Other: ________________________
3. Validate within context(s)
Who does it? When does it happen? How is it done? Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Verification
Validation Developers and users have done independent validations throughout development of the software with an independent review prior to release Our toolbox was validated on various datasets. Machine learning techniques adopted in the toolbox were evaluated using cross-validation strategies. Extensive
Uncertainty quantification
Sensitivity analysis Developers and users have performed sentivity analysis throughout development of the software with an independent review prior to release The test-retest reliability of high-order functional connectivity metrics has been verify. Parameter sensitivity and model robustness tests were perform in [2] for reproducibility and generalizability. Extensive
Other:__________
Additional Comments
4. Limitations
Disclaimer statement (explain key limitations) Who needs to know about this disclaimer? How is this disclaimer shared with that audience? Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Only two-class classification. Toolbox users In the published paper. Extensive
Features limited to functional connectivity strengths and clustering coefficients. Toolbox users In the published paper. Extensive
Only support vector machine (SVM) classification is supported. Toolbox users In the published paper. Extensive
Feature selection methods limited LASSO and two-sample t-test. Toolbox users In the published paper. Extensive
For SVM and LASSO hyperparameters, users need to use batch mode. Toolbox users In the published paper. Extensive
5. Version control
Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Extensive
Naming Conventions? Repository? Code Review?
individual modeler Yes Yes Yes
within the lab NA Yes Yes
collaborators NA Yes Yes
6. Documentation
Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Code commented? Extensive
Scope and intended use described? Extensive
User’s guide? Extensive
Developer’s guide? Extensive
7. Dissemination
Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Extensive
Target Audience(s): “Inner circle” Scientific community Public
Simulations
Models https://github.com/zzstefan/BrainNetClass
Software https://github.com/zzstefan/BrainNetClass
Results https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hbm.24979
Implications of results https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hbm.24979
8. Independent reviews
Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Extensive
Reviewer(s) name & affiliation: It has been published in Human Brain Mapping. So the reviewers are selected by the editors.
When was review performed? 1/1/2020-2/9/2020
How was review performed and outcomes of the review? We have revised the paper based on the reviews and our paper got accepted.
9. Test competing implementations
Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Adequate
Yes or No (briefly summarize)
Were competing implementations tested?
Did this lead to model refinement or improvement? Yes----Comparisons with competing methods were performed the results were published.
10. Conform to standards
Current Conformance Level / Target Conformance Level
Adequate
Yes or No (briefly summarize)
Are there operating procedures, guidelines, or standards for this type of multiscale modeling? Yes----Our toolbox conforms to rigorous guidelines for best practices in machine learning, including parameter optimization, cross validation, multiple performance metrics, generalization, and robustness.
How do your modeling efforts conform?
11. (optional) Additional information to support items 1-10