A Survey on Various Applications of Artificial Neural Networks in Selected Fields of Healthcare

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of artificial neural networks as instruments for processing miscellaneous biomedical signals. A variety of applications are illustrated in several areas of healthcare. The structure of this chapter is rather oriented on medical fields like cardiology, gynecology, or neuromuscular control than on types of neural nets. Many examples demonstrate how neural nets can support the diagnosis and prediction of diseases. However, their content does not claim completeness due to the enormous amount and exponentially increasing number of publications in this field. Besides the potential benefits for healthcare, some remarks on underlying assumptions are also included as well as problems which may occur while applying artificial neural nets. It is hoped that this review gives profound insight into strengths as well as weaknesses of artificial neural networks as tools for processing biomedical signals.