Short-segment heart sound classification using an ensemble of deep convolutional neural networks

This paper proposes a framework based on deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for automatic heart sound classification using short-segments of individual heart beats. We design a 1D-CNN that directly learns features from raw heart-sound signals, and a 2D-CNN that takes inputs of two- dimensional time-frequency feature maps based on Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC). We further develop a time-frequency CNN ensemble (TF-ECNN) combining the 1D-CNN and 2D-CNN based on score-level fusion of the class probabilities. On the large PhysioNet CinC challenge 2016 database, the proposed CNN models outperformed traditional classifiers based on support vector machine and hidden Markov models with various hand-crafted time- and frequency-domain features. Best classification scores with 89.22% accuracy and 89.94% sensitivity were achieved by the ECNN, and 91.55% specificity and 88.82% modified accuracy by the 2D-CNN alone on the test set.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, conferenc

A Multiple Cascade-Classifier System for a Robust and Partially Unsupervised Updating of Land-Cover Maps

A system for a regular updating of land-cover maps is proposed that is based on the use of multitemporal remote-sensing images. Such a system is able to face the updating problem under the realistic but critical constraint that, for the image to be classified (i.e., the most recent of the considered multitemporal data set), no ground truth information is available. The system is composed of an ensemble of partially unsupervised classifiers integrated in a multiple classifier architecture. Each classifier of the ensemble exhibits the following novel peculiarities: i) it is developed in the framework of the cascade-classification approach to exploit the temporal correlation existing between images acquired at different times in the considered area; ii) it is based on a partially unsupervised methodology capable to accomplish the classification process under the aforementioned critical constraint. Both a parametric maximum-likelihood classification approach and a non-parametric radial basis function (RBF) neural-network classification approach are used as basic methods for the development of partially unsupervised cascade classifiers. In addition, in order to generate an effective ensemble of classification algorithms, hybrid maximum-likelihood and RBF neural network cascade classifiers are defined by exploiting the peculiarities of the cascade-classification methodology. The results yielded by the different classifiers are combined by using standard unsupervised combination strategies. This allows the definition of a robust and accurate partially unsupervised classification system capable of analyzing a wide typology of remote-sensing data (e.g., images acquired by passive sensors, SAR images, multisensor and multisource data). Experimental results obtained on a real multitemporal and multisource data set confirm the effectiveness of the proposed system