Hybrid Deep Learning Framework for Automated Classification of Pediatric ABR Images in Early Hearing Loss Diagnosis
Keywords:
Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR), Pediatric Hearing Loss, Deep Learning, CNN-LSTM, ResNetAbstract
Early identification of auditory impairments in infants is crucial to prevent long-term delays in speech, language, and cognitive development. The Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test serves as the gold standard for pediatric auditory screening, yet its' manual interpretation demands expert judgment and time. This study proposes a hybrid deep learning framework that integrates Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) with Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks to automatically classify ABR waveform images as normal or abnormal. A comparative ResNet-like CNN model was also developed. The dataset included 187 clinically labeled ABR images from infants aged 1–20 months, expanded to over 1,600 samples through targeted augmentation to balance class distribution. The CNN-LSTM model achieved 99.5% validation accuracy, 100% recall, 99.45% F1-score, and 99.11% specificity, outperforming the ResNet-like model (97.8% accuracy). These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the hybrid CNN-LSTM model in automated ABR interpretation and its clinical potential as a scalable diagnostic tool for early detection of pediatric hearing loss in resource-limited environments.
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