Neural Networks in Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Neural networks are parallel, distributed, adaptive information-processing systems that develop their functionality in response to exposure to information. This paper is a tutorial for researchers intending to use neural nets for medical decision-making applications. It includes detailed discussion of the issues particularly relevant to medical data as well as wider issues relevant to any neural net application. The article is restricted to back-propagation learning in multilayer perceptrons, as this is the neural net model most widely used in medical applications. Key words: neural networks; medical decision making; pattern recognition; nonlinearity; error back-propagation; multi layer perceptron. (Med Decis Making 1996;16:386-398)