A Hybrid Artificial Intelligence System for Automated EEG Background Analysis and Report Generation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid AI system that automates EEG background analysis and report generation, combining deep learning and expert algorithms to improve diagnostic accuracy, especially in resource-limited clinical settings.

Contribution

It presents a novel hybrid AI approach that integrates deep learning and expert algorithms for automated EEG interpretation and report generation, outperforming neurologists in key diagnostic tasks.

Findings

AI outperforms neurologists in detecting background slowing

System achieves high accuracy in PDR prediction (91.8%)

Report generation with LLMs is 100% accurate

Abstract

Electroencephalography (EEG) plays a crucial role in the diagnosis of various neurological disorders. However, small hospitals and clinics often lack advanced EEG signal analysis systems and are prone to misinterpretation in manual EEG reading. This study proposes an innovative hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) system for automatic interpretation of EEG background activity and report generation. The system combines deep learning models for posterior dominant rhythm (PDR) prediction, unsupervised artifact removal, and expert-designed algorithms for abnormality detection. For PDR prediction, 1530 labeled EEGs were used, and the best ensemble model achieved a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.237, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.359, an accuracy of 91.8% within a 0.6Hz error, and an accuracy of 99% within a 1.2Hz error. The AI system significantly outperformed neurologists in detecting generalized background slowing (p = 0.02; F1: AI 0.93, neurologists 0.82) and demonstrated improved focal abnormality detection, although not statistically significant (p = 0.79; F1: AI 0.71, neurologists 0.55). Validation on both an internal dataset and the Temple University Abnormal EEG Corpus showed consistent performance (F1: 0.884 and 0.835, respectively; p = 0.66), demonstrating generalizability. The use of large language models (LLMs) for report generation demonstrated 100% accuracy, verified by three other independent LLMs. This hybrid AI system provides an easily scalable and accurate solution for EEG interpretation in resource-limited settings, assisting neurologists in improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing misdiagnosis rates.