Combining clinical and imaging data for predicting functional outcomes after acute ischemic stroke: an automated machine learning approach

This study aimed to develop and validate an automated machine learning (ML) system that predicts 3-month functional outcomes in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients by combining clinical and neuroimaging features. Functional outcomes were categorized as unfavorable (modified Rankin Scale ≥ 3) or not. A clinical model employing optimal clinical features (Model_A), a convolutional neural network model incorporating imaging data (Model_B), and an integrated model combining both imaging and clinical features (Model_C) were developed and tested to predict unfavorable outcomes. The developed models were compared with each other and with traditional risk-scoring models. The dataset comprised 4147 patients from a multicenter stroke registry, with 1268 (30.6%) experiencing unfavorable outcomes. Age, initial NIHSS, and early neurologic deterioration were identified as the most important clinical features. The ML model prediction achieved an area under the curves of 0.757 (95% CI 0.726–0.789) for Model_A, 0.725 (95% CI 0.693–0.755) for Model_B, and 0.786 (95% CI 0.757–0.814) for Model_C in the test set. The integrated models outperformed traditional risk-scoring models by 0.21 (95% CI 0.16–0.25) for HIAT and 0.15 (95% CI 0.11–0.19) for THRIVE. In conclusion, the integrated ML system enhanced stroke outcome prediction by combining imaging data and clinical features, outperforming traditional risk-scoring models.