JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SYSTEMS, cilt.48, sa.15, ss.1-12, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
Abstract
The fact that the rapid and definitive diagnosis of autism cannot be made today and that autism cannot be treated provides an
impetus to look into novel technological solutions. To contribute to the resolution of this problem through multiple classifications by considering age and gender factors, in this study, two quadruple and one octal classifications were performed using
a deep learning (DL) approach. Gender in one of the four classifications and age groups in the other were considered. In the
octal classification, classes were created considering gender and age groups. In addition to the diagnosis of ASD (Autism
Spectrum Disorders), another goal of this study is to find out the contribution of gender and age factors to the diagnosis of
ASD by making multiple classifications based on age and gender for the first time. Brain structural MRI (sMRI) scans of
participators with ASD and TD (Typical Development) were pre-processed in the system originally designed for this purpose.
Using the Canny Edge Detection (CED) algorithm, the sMRI image data was cropped in the data pre-processing stage, and
the data set was enlarged five times with the data augmentation (DA) techniques. The most optimal convolutional neural
network (CNN) models were developed using the grid search optimization (GSO) algorism. The proposed DL prediction
system was tested with the five-fold cross-validation technique. Three CNN models were designed to be used in the system.
The first of these models is the quadruple classification model created by taking gender into account (model 1), the second is
the quadruple classification model created by taking into account age (model 2), and the third is the eightfold classification
model created by taking into account both gender and age (model 3). ). The accuracy rates obtained for all three designed
models are 80.94, 85.42 and 67.94, respectively. These obtained accuracy rates were compared with pre-trained models by
using the transfer learning approach. As a result, it was revealed that age and gender factors were effective in the diagnosis
of ASD with the system developed for ASD multiple classifications, and higher accuracy rates were achieved compared to
pre-trained models.