A New Wavelet-Based Neural Network for Classification of Epileptic-Related States using EEG

In this paper, we present a novel neural network able to classify epileptic seizures using electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, called “Multidimensional Radial Wavelons Feed-Forward Wavelet Neural Network” (MRW-FFWNN). The network is part of a classification system, which distinguishes among three brain states related to epilepsy namely ictal, interictal and healthy. Efficient methods for pre-processing EEG’s, extracting features and getting the final class decisions were selected using a statistical three-fold cross-validation method, which assures the robustness of the system and its generalization ability. The following methods were systematically analyzed to find the most appropriate for this problem: 1) Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) and Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters for noise reduction; 2) discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Maximal Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform (MODWT) for frequency decomposition of the EEG signals; 3) average correlation and maximum voting correlation for selecting a suitable mother wavelet for frequency decomposition; 4) Binary-tree and one-vs-one (OVO) decomposition strategies for primary binary classification; 5) voting and weighted-voting strategy aggregation strategies for the final classification. The integrated system was assessed using a three-fold cross validation, applied to a benchmark provided by the University of Bonn, getting an average accuracy of 93.33% when tested using sets Z, S and F and 95.0% when sets Z, S, F and O were used. The proposed network got competitive accuracy, compared with other state-of-the art classifiers, training in almost a half of the time than the ones with similar accuracy.