Deep learning in neuroimaging of epilepsy

In recent years, artificial intelligence, particularly deep learning (DL), has demonstrated utility in diverse areas of medicine. DL uses neural networks to automatically learn features from the raw data while this is not possible with conventional machine learning. It is helpful for the assessment of patients with epilepsy and whilst most published studies have been aimed at the automatic detection and prediction of seizures from electroencephalographic records, there is a growing number of investigations that use neuroimaging modalities (structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging and positron emission tomography) as input data. We review the application of DL to neuroimaging (sMRI, fMRI, DWI and PET) of focal epilepsy, specifically presurgical evaluation of drug-refractory epilepsy. First, a brief theoretical overview of artificial neural networks and deep learning is presented. Next, we review applications of deep learning to neuroimaging of epilepsy: diagnosis and lateralization, automated detection of lesion, presurgical evaluation and prediction of postsurgical outcome. Finally, the limitations, challenges and possible future directions in the application of these methods in the study of epilepsies are discussed. This approach could become an essential tool in clinical practice, particularly in the evaluation of images considered negative by visual inspection, in individualized treatments, and in the approach to epilepsy as a network disorder. However, greater multicenter collaboration is required to achieve the collection of sufficient data with the required quality together with the open access availability of the developed codes and tools. ●Deep learning (DL) of neuroimaging may benefit assessment of patients with epilepsy.●We demonstrate its utility in diagnosis, lesion detection and surgical planning.●DL is particularly suited for automatic detection of lesions, even when not visible.●Thus application of DL could be key to advance personalized medicine in epilepsy.●However multicenter collaboration is required to integrate DL into clinical routine.