Non-negative matrix factorization and sparse representation for sleep signal classification

Unsupervised Learning of Spatiotemporal Interictal Discharges in Focal Epilepsy

BACKGROUND

Interictal epileptiform discharges are an important biomarker for localization of focal epilepsy, especially in patients who undergo chronic intracranial monitoring. Manual detection of these pathophysiological events is cumbersome, but is still superior to current rule-based approaches in most automated algorithms.

OBJECTIVE

To develop an unsupervised machine-learning algorithm for the improved, automated detection and localization of interictal epileptiform discharges based on spatiotemporal pattern recognition.

METHODS

We decomposed 24 h of intracranial electroencephalography signals into basis functions and activation vectors using non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF). Thresholding the activation vector and the basis function of interest detected interictal epileptiform discharges in time and space (specific electrodes), respectively. We used convolutive NNMF, a refined algorithm, to add a temporal dimension to basis functions.

RESULTS

The receiver operating characteristics for NNMF-based detection are close to the gold standard of human visual-based detection and superior to currently available alternative automated approaches (93% sensitivity and 97% specificity). The algorithm successfully identified thousands of interictal epileptiform discharges across a full day of neurophysiological recording and accurately summarized their localization into a single map. Adding a temporal window allowed for visualization of the archetypal propagation network of these epileptiform discharges.

CONCLUSION

Unsupervised learning offers a powerful approach towards automated identification of recurrent pathological neurophysiological signals, which may have important implications for precise, quantitative, and individualized evaluation of focal epilepsy.

Nonnegative matrix factorization and sparse representation for the automated detection of periodic limb movements in sleep

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in adults, and incurs a significant economic burden to society. Periodic limb movements (PLMs) in sleep are repetitive movements involving the great toe, ankle, and hip. Evolving evidence suggests that PLMs may be associated with high blood pressure and stroke, but this relationship remains underexplored. Several issues limit the study of PLMs including the need to manually score them, which is time-consuming and costly. For this reason, we developed a novel automated method for nocturnal PLM detection, which was shown to be correlated with (a) the manually scored PLM index on polysomnography, and (b) white matter hyperintensities on brain imaging, which have been demonstrated to be associated with PLMs. Our proposed algorithm consists of three main stages: (1) representing the signal in the time-frequency plane using time-frequency matrices (TFM), (2) applying K-nonnegative matrix factorization technique to decompose the TFM matrix into its significant components, and (3) applying kernel sparse representation for classification (KSRC) to the decomposed signal. Our approach was applied to a dataset that consisted of 65 subjects who underwent polysomnography. An overall classification of 97 % was achieved for discrimination of the aforementioned signals, demonstrating the potential of the presented method.