A Hybrid Approach for COVID-19 Detection Using Biogeography-Based Optimization and Deep Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a major challenge for countries all over the world and has placed tremendous pressure on their public health care services. An early diagnosis of COVID-19 may reduce the impact of the coronavirus. To achieve this objective, modern computation methods, such as deep learning, may be applied. In this study, a computational model involving deep learning and biogeography-based optimization (BBO) for early detection and management of COVID-19 is introduced. Specifically, BBO is used for the layer selection process in the proposed convolutional neural network (CNN). The computational model accepts images, such as CT scans, X-rays, positron emission tomography, lung ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging, as inputs. In the comparative analysis, the proposed deep learning model CNN is compared with other existing models, namely, VGG16, InceptionV3, ResNet50, and MobileNet. In the fitness function formation, classification accuracy is considered to enhance the prediction capability of the proposed model. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model outperforms InceptionV3 and ResNet50.