Classification of MRI brain images using combined wavelet entropy based spider web plots and probabilistic neural network

•A new methodology is proposed for the classification of MRI brain images into normal and abnormal.•Wavelet entropy based spider web plot areas are used as features for classification.•Classifier used is probabilistic neural network.•Accuracy of 100% is achieved with less number of features.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive diagnostic tool very frequently used for brain imaging. The classification of MRI images of normal and pathological brain conditions pose a challenge from technological and clinical point of view, since MR imaging focuses on soft tissue anatomy and generates a large information set and these can act as a mirror reflecting the conditions of the brain. A new approach by integrating wavelet entropy based spider web plots and probabilistic neural network is proposed for the classification of MRI brain images. The two step method for classification uses (1) wavelet entropy based spider web plots for the feature extraction and (2) probabilistic neural network for the classification. The spider web plot is a geometric construction drawn using the entropy of the wavelet approximation components and the areas calculated are used as feature set for classification. Probabilistic neural network provides a general solution to the pattern classification problems and the classification accuracy is found to be 100%.