Abstract
Accurate diagnosis of brain tumors is critical in understanding the prognosis in terms of the type, growth rate, location, removal strategy, and overall well-being of the patients. Among different modalities used for the detection and classification of brain tumors, a computed tomography (CT) scan is often performed as an early-stage procedure for minor symptoms like headaches. Automated procedures based on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods are used to detect and classify brain tumors in Computed Tomography (CT) scan images. However, the key challenges in achieving the desired outcome are associated with the model's complexity and generalization. To address these issues, we propose a hybrid model that extracts features from CT images using classical machine learning. Additionally, although MRI is a common modality for brain tumor diagnosis, its high cost and longer acquisition time make CT scans a more practical choice for early-stage screening and widespread clinical use. The proposed framework has different stages, including image acquisition, pre-processing, feature extraction, feature selection, and classification. The hybrid architecture combines features from ResNet50, AlexNet, LBP, HOG, and median intensity, classified using a multilayer perceptron. The selection of the relevant features in our proposed hybrid model was extracted using the SelectKBest algorithm. Thus, it optimizes the proposed model performance. In addition, the proposed model incorporates data augmentation to handle the imbalanced datasets. We employed a scoring function to extract the features. The Classification is ensured using a multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP). Unlike most existing hybrid approaches, which primarily target MRI-based brain tumor classification, our method is specifically designed for CT scan images, addressing their unique noise patterns and lower soft-tissue contrast. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to integrate LBP, HOG, median intensity, and deep features from both ResNet50 and AlexNet in a structured fusion pipeline for CT brain tumor classification. The proposed hybrid model is tested on data from numerous sources and achieved an accuracy of 94.82%, precision of 94.52%, specificity of 98.35%, and sensitivity of 94.76% compared to state-of-the-art models. While MRI-based models often report higher accuracies, the proposed model achieves 94.82% on CT scans, within 3-4% of leading MRI-based approaches, demonstrating strong generalization despite the modality difference. The proposed hybrid model, combining hand-crafted and deep learning features, effectively improves brain tumor detection and classification accuracy in CT scans. It has the potential for clinical application, aiding in early and accurate diagnosis. Unlike MRI, which is often time-intensive and costly, CT scans are more accessible and faster to acquire, making them suitable for early-stage screening and emergency diagnostics. This reinforces the practical and clinical value of the proposed model in real-world healthcare settings.