Introduction
Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are increasingly used in metabolomics.
Objectives
Given the multitude of implementations of ANN, there is no straightforward way to identify important features (metabolites). We developed a simple numeric score, the FIA score, to identify features of high importance.
Methods
FIA analysis was implemented in R and tested on microbial and human datasets.
Results
FIA scores correlated significantly to p -values and can provide information on the stability of ANN models.
Conclusion
FIA scores are a novel, simple score to assess the impact of features that will help interpreting ANN outcomes in the metabolomics area.