The use of Machine Learning (ML) to resolve complex tasks has become popular in several contexts. While these approaches are very effective and have many related benefits, they are still very tricky for the general audience. In this sense, expert knowledge is crucial to apply ML algorithms properly and to avoid potential issues. However, in some situations, it is not possible to rely on experts to guide the development of ML pipelines. To tackle this issue, we present an approach to provide customized heuristics and recommendations through a graphical platform to build ML pipelines, namely KoopaML, focused on the medical domain. With this approach, we aim not only at providing an easy way to apply ML for non-expert users, but also at providing a learning experience for them to understand how these methods work.
Device-related thrombus (DRT) after left atrial appendage (LAA) closure is infrequent but correlates with an increased risk of thromboembolism. Therefore, the search for DRT predictors is a topic of interest. In the literature, multivariable methods have been used achieving non-consistent results, and to the best of our knowledge, machine learning techniques have not been used yet for thrombus detection after LAA occlusion. Our aim is to compare both methodologies with respect to predictive power and the search for predictors of DRT. To this end, a multicenter study including 1150 patients who underwent LAA closure was analyzed. Two lines of experiments were performed: with and without resampling. Multivariate and machine learning methodologies were applied to both lines. Predictive power and the extracted predictors for all experiments were gathered. ROC curves of 0.5446 and 0.7974 were obtained for multivariate analysis and machine learning without resampling, respectively. However, the resampling experiment showed no significant difference between them (0.52 vs. 0.53 ROC AUC). A difference between the predictors selected was observed, with the multivariable methodology being more stable. These results question the validity of predictors reported in previous studies and demonstrate their disparity. Furthermore, none of the techniques analyzed is superior to the other for these data.
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