Neural computation in urology: an orientation

Neural computation is a field in which mathematical models are derived from algorithms based loosely on the physiological function of the biological neuron. This paper serves as an introduction to those that follow in this issue of Molecular Urology, which describe actual applications of neural computational modeling in the urologic domain. In this introductory paper, the history of computer technology and the foundations of neural computation are discussed. Methods of determining the accuracy of computation models are reviewed, and a statistical method of evaluating the significance of individual input features to the model's output, a process known as "feature extraction," is presented. Resources that provide free and commercial neural computational programs are cited for those readers interested in applying this technology to their own datasets, and a brief description of the author's neural computational programming environment is included. Finally, deployment of computational models via the Internet and various computer platforms is discussed.