Classification of brain tumors by means of proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy

In the present work, at the request of health professionals, a computer application named "ViDa" was developed. The aim of this study is to differentiate brain lesions according to whether or not they are tumors, and their subsequent classification into different tumor types using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (SVS) with an echo time of 30 milliseconds. For this development, different areas of knowledge were integrated, among which are Artificial intelligence, physics, programming, physiopathology, images in medicine, among others. Biomedical imaging can be divided into two stages: the pre-processing, performed by the resonator, and post-processing software, performed by ViDa, for the interpretation of the data. This application is included within the Medical Informatics area, as it provides assistance for clinical decision making. The role of the biomedical engineer is fulfilled by developing a health technology in response to a manifested real-life problem. The tool developed shows promising results achieving a 100% Sensitivity, 73% Specificity, 77% Positive Predictive Value and 100% Negative Predictive Value reported in 21 cases tested. The correct classifications of the tumor's origin reach 70%, the classification of non-astrocytic lesions achieves 67% of correct classifications in that the gradation of astrocytomas achieves a 57% of gradations that agree with biopsies and 43% of slight errors. It was possible to develop an application of assistance to the diagnosis, which together with others medical tests, will make it possible to sharpen the diagnoses of brain tumors. (authors)