Optimization assisted framework for thyroid detection and classification: A new ensemble technique

Abstract

Ultrasound (US) is an inexpensive and non-invasive technique for capturing the image of the thyroid gland and nearby tissue. The classification and detection of thyroid disorders is still in its infant stage. This study aims to present a new thyroid diagnosis approach, which consists of three phases like “(i) feature extraction, (ii) feature dimensionality reduction, and (iii) classification”. Initially, the thyroid images as well as its related data are given as input. From the input image, the features such as“ Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix(GLCM), Grey level Run Length Matrix(GLRM), proposed Local Binary Pattern(LBP), and Local Tetra Patterns (LTrP)” are extracted. Meanwhile, from the input data, the higher-order statistical features like skewness, kurtosis, entropy, as well as moment get retrieved. Consequently, the Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) based dimensionality reduction is processed to resolve the problem of “curse of dimensionality”. Finally, the classification is carried out via two phases: Image features are classified using an ensemble classifier that includes Support Vector Machine (SVM)& Neural Network(NN) models. The data features are subjected to Recurrent Neural Network(RNN) based classification, which is optimized by an Adaptive Elephant Herding Algorithm (AEHO) via tuning the optimal weight. At last, the performance of the adopted scheme is compared to the extant models in terms of various measures. Especially, the mean value of the suggested RNN + AEHO model is 4.35%, 3.54%, 6.07%, 3.8%, 1.69%, 2.85%, 2.07%, 2.54%, 0.13%, 0.035%, and 8.53% better than the existing CNN, NB, RF, KNN, Levenberg, RNN + EHO, RNN + FF, RNN + WOA, WF-CS, FU-SLnO and HFBO methods respectively.