Enhancing Stroke Diagnosis with Machine Learning and SHAP-Based Explainable AI Models

Stroke is a serious illness that needs to be treated quickly to enhance patient outcome. Machine Learning (ML) offers promising potential for automated stroke detection through precise neuroimaging analysis. Although existing research has explored ML applications in stroke medicine, challenges remain, such as validation concerns and limitations within available datasets. The study aims to compare ML models and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) algorithm insights for stroke detection optimization. The research evaluates classifiers' performance, including Deep Neural Networks (DNN), AdaBoost, Support Vector Machines (SVM), and XGBoost, using data from www.kaggle.com. Results demonstrate XGBoost's superior performance across various data splits, emphasizing its effectiveness for stroke prediction. Utilizing SHAP provides deeper insights into stroke risk factors, facilitating comprehensive risk assessment. Overall, the study contributes to advancing stroke detection methodologies and highlights ML's role in enhancing clinical practice in stroke medicine. Further research could explore additional datasets and advanced ML algorithms to enhance prediction accuracy and preventive measures.