ETISTP: An Enhanced Model for Brain Tumor Identification and Survival Time Prediction

Diagnostics (Basel). 2023 Apr 18;13(8):1456. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13081456.

Abstract

Technology-assisted diagnosis is increasingly important in healthcare systems. Brain tumors are a leading cause of death worldwide, and treatment plans rely heavily on accurate survival predictions. Gliomas, a type of brain tumor, have particularly high mortality rates and can be further classified as low- or high-grade, making survival prediction challenging. Existing literature provides several survival prediction models that use different parameters, such as patient age, gross total resection status, tumor size, or tumor grade. However, accuracy is often lacking in these models. The use of tumor volume instead of size may improve the accuracy of survival prediction. In response to this need, we propose a novel model, the enhanced brain tumor identification and survival time prediction (ETISTP), which computes tumor volume, classifies it into low- or high-grade glioma, and predicts survival time with greater accuracy. The ETISTP model integrates four parameters: patient age, survival days, gross total resection (GTR) status, and tumor volume. Notably, ETISTP is the first model to employ tumor volume for prediction. Furthermore, our model minimizes the computation time by allowing for parallel execution of tumor volume computation and classification. The simulation results demonstrate that ETISTP outperforms prominent survival prediction models.

Keywords: brain tumor classification; brain tumor identification; deep learning; image segmentation; medical image processing; survival prediction.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.