Alzheimer Disease Detection and Stages Classification

Project Domain / Category

Image Processing / Artificial Intelligence / Web App

Abstract / Introduction
Alzheimer's disease is a brain disorder that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. It is the most common
cause of dementia, which is a decline in cognitive function severe enough to interfere with daily life.
Alzheimer's gradually worsens over time, and it eventually becomes difficult for affected individuals to carry
out simple tasks. Alzheimer's disease typically progresses through stages, starting with mild memory loss and
confusion, then advancing to severe memory impairment, personality changes, and difficulties with basic
tasks like dressing or eating. In the later stages, individuals may require a caretaker all the time.
Alzheimer’s disease has six different stages which are as follows: (i) control normal (CN) is the first stage
where no symptoms of the disease are shown. (ii) Significant memory concern (SMC) is the next stage, which
is characterized by minor memory related issues that are difficult to detect and are like normal age-related
problems. (iii) Early mild cognitive impairment (EMCI) stage causes difficulty in arranging items and
planning new things. (iv) The distinguishable symptoms of the disease become visible in the fourth stage
called mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage. Here, the patient is having trouble solving simple math-related
problems or managing financial tasks. (v) In the late mild cognitive impairment (LMCI) stage, the person
experiences problems remembering details. They need help from their guardians to manage their daily tasks.
The patients feel difficulty in their surroundings. (vi) In the last stage of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the person
becomes unable to interact with his environment. The last stage often results in a patient’s death. The
conversion from one stage of AD to another depends on the patient’s condition.

The project includes detecting Alzheimer disease from a patient MRI scan and classifying it into one of the
mentioned stages. You are required to develop a web app in which the patient will enter his/her MRI scan and
check his/her status.

Functional Requirements:

 Dataset Collection: Collect MRI or FMRI related dataset from available free repositories or any other
online source.
 Pre-Processing: The collected dataset contains MRI or FMRI scans. Convert these into images using
python and use different image processing techniques to create a uniform, normalized image dataset.
You may need to perform data augmentation in this step.
 Model Selection: Analyze different deep learning-based CNN models and select a suitable one for
Alzheimer disease classification.
 Dataset Splitting: Split the dataset into training and testing set for model evaluation.
 Model Training: Train the selected model using training dataset.
 Validation and Hyperparameter Tuning: Validate the model's performance using the validation set
and fine-tune hyperparameters like learning rate, batch size, and network architecture to achieve the
best results.
 Model Evaluation: Check the performance of the model used using testing dataset and different
evaluation metrics.
 Real-time Detection: Implement a real-time AD detection pipeline using OpenCV to upload an image
from and apply the trained model for AD stage detection.
 User-Interface: Develop a user-friendly interface in which the patient can easily upload his/her MRI /
FMRI scan and get to know about his/her AD stage.
Prerequisites:

 Have a good understanding of Python.

 Having knowledge of basic deep learning concepts and models.
 Understanding of basic image processing techniques (preferable but not mandatory).
 Basic idea of working with image related datasets.

Tools:
 Language: Only Python
 IDE: JupyterNotebook, Pycharm, Spyder, Visual Studio Code, etc.
Better to use Google colab environment or google cloud.
 OpenCV

Note:

 VU will not provide any kind of paid resources needed for the project.
 A student must find the dataset by himself / herself.
 Use of any other language is strictly prohibited.
 Kindly read the given instructions properly and choose a project only if you have developed a clear
understanding of the project.
 A student who wished to select this project must commit to spend 2 hours daily for FYP project. This
may include learning through tutorials or getting help from any reading material.
 In case of any query, feel free to contact and discuss with me.

Important links and Tutorials:

 Python
 https://www.w3schools.com/python/
 https://www.tutorialspoint.com/python/index.htm
 https://www.programiz.com/python-programming
 Deep Learning
 https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/deep-learning-tutorial/guide-to-building-
powerful-keras-image-classification-models
 https://www.analyticsvidhya.com/blog/2020/02/learn-image-classification-cnn-
convolutional-neural-networks-3-datasets/
 Image Processing
 https://builtin.com/software-engineering-perspectives/image-processing-python
 https://neptune.ai/blog/image-processing-python
 https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/image-processing-in-python/
 https://www.tensorflow.org/tutorials/load_data/images

Supervisor:
Name: Taliah Tajammal
Email ID: taliah.tajammal@vu.edu.pk
Skype ID: live:.cid.1d478ff6231e1aab