LAUSR

PURPOSE To improve the prediction accuracy of respiratory signals by adapting the multi-layer perceptron neural network (MLP-NN) model to changing respiratory signals. We have previously developed an MLP-NN to predict respiratory signals obtained from a real-time position management (RPM) device. Preliminary testing results indicated that poor prediction accuracy may be observed after several seconds for irregular breathing patterns as only a set of fixed data was used in one-time training. To improve the prediction accuracy, we introduced a continuous learning technique using the updated training data to replace one-time learning using the fixed training data. We carried on this new prediction using an adaptation approach with dual MLP-NNs rather than single MLP-NN. When one MLP-NN was performing prediction of the respiratory signals, another one was being trained using the updated data and vice versa. The predicted performance was evaluated by root-mean-square-error (RMSE) between the predicted and true signals from 202 patients' respiratory patterns each with 1 min recording length. The effects of adding an additional network, training parameter, and respiratory signal irregularity on the performance of the new predictor were investigated based on four different network configurations: a single MLP-NN, high-computation dual MLP-NNs (U1), two different combinations of high- and low-computation dual MLP-NNs (U2 and U3). The RMSEs using U1 method were reduced by 34%, 19%, and 10% compared to those using MLP-NN, U2 and U3 methods, respectively. Continuous training of an MLP-NN based on a dual-network configuration using updated respiratory signals improved prediction accuracy compared to one-time training of an MLP-NN using fixed signals.