BMC MEDICAL IMAGING

Predicting malignancy in breast lesions: enhancing accuracy with fine-tuned convolutional neural network models
Li L, Pan C, Zhang M, Shen D, He G and Meng M
This study aims to explore the accuracy of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models in predicting malignancy in Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE-BMRI).
A deep learning based method for left ventricular strain measurements: repeatability and accuracy compared to experienced echocardiographers
Rogstadkjernet M, Zha SZ, Klæboe LG, Larsen CK, Aalen JM, Scheirlynck E, Singstad BJ, Droogmans S, Cosyns B, Smiseth OA, Haugaa KH, Edvardsen T, Samset E and Brekke PH
Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) provides quantification of left ventricular (LV) deformation and is useful in the assessment of LV function. STE is increasingly being used clinically, and every effort to simplify and standardize STE is important. Manual outlining of regions of interest (ROIs) is labor intensive and may influence assessment of strain values.
Enhancing image-based diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract diseases through deep learning with EfficientNet and advanced data augmentation techniques
Zubair Rahman AMJM, Mythili R, Chokkanathan K, Mahesh TR, Vanitha K and Yimer TE
The early detection and diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, polyps, and esophagitis, are crucial for timely treatment. Traditional imaging techniques often rely on manual interpretation, which is subject to variability and may lack precision. Current methodologies leverage conventional deep learning models that, while effective to an extent, often suffer from overfitting and generalization issues on medical image datasets due to the intricate and subtle variations in disease manifestations. These models typically do not fully utilize the potential of transfer learning or advanced data augmentation, leading to less-than-optimal performance, especially in diverse real-world scenarios where data variability is high. This study introduces a robust model using the EfficientNetB5 architecture combined with a sophisticated data augmentation strategy. The model is tailored for the high variability and intricate details present in gastrointestinal tract disease images. By integrating transfer learning with maximal pooling and extensive regularization, the model aims to enhance diagnostic accuracy and reduce overfitting. The proposed model achieved a test accuracy of 98.89%, surpassing traditional methods by incorporating advanced regularization and augmentation techniques. The application of horizontal flipping and dynamic scaling during training significantly improved the model's ability to generalize, evidenced by a low-test loss of 0.230 and high precision metrics across all classes. The proposed deep learning framework demonstrates superior performance in the automated classification of gastrointestinal diseases from image data. By addressing key limitations of existing models through innovative techniques, this study contributes to the enhancement of diagnostic processes in medical imaging, potentially leading to more accurate and timely disease interventions.
Computed tomography radiomics reveals prognostic value of immunophenotyping in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a comparison of whole tumor- versus habitats-based approaches
Qi M, Zhou W, Yuan Y, Song Y, Zhang D and Ren J
To compare the performance of whole tumor and habitats-based computed tomography (CT) radiomics for predicting immunophenotyping in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (LSCC) and further evaluate the stratified effect of the radiomics model on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of LSCC patients.
Computer vision applications for the detection or analysis of tuberculosis using digitised human lung tissue images - a systematic review
Lumamba KD, Wells G, Naicker D, Naidoo T, Steyn AJC and Gwetu M
To conduct a systematic review of the computer vision applications that detect, diagnose, or analyse tuberculosis (TB) pathology or bacilli using digitised human lung tissue images either through automatic or semi-automatic methods. We categorised the computer vision platform into four technologies: image processing, object/pattern recognition, computer graphics, and deep learning. In this paper, the focus is on image processing and deep learning (DL) applications for either 2D or 3D digitised human lung tissue images. This review is useful for establishing a common practice in TB analysis using human lung tissue as well as identifying opportunities for further research in this space. The review brings attention to the state-of-art techniques for detecting TB, with emphasis on the challenges and limitations of the current techniques. The ultimate goal is to promote the development of more efficient and accurate algorithms for the detection or analysis of TB, and raise awareness about the importance of early detection.
In vitro detection of cancer cells using a novel fluorescent choline derivative
Caprifico AE, Vaghi L, Spearman P, Calabrese G and Papagni A
The treatment of preinvasive lesions is more effective than treating invasive disease, hence detecting cancer at its early stages is crucial. However, currently, available screening methods show various limitations in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and practicality, thus novel markers complementing traditional cyto/histopathological assessments are needed. Alteration in choline metabolism is a hallmark of many malignancies, including cervical and breast cancers. Choline radiotracers are widely used for imaging purposes, even though many risks are associated with their radioactivity. Therefore, this work aimed to synthesise and characterise a non-radioactive choline tracer based on a fluorinated acridine scaffold (CFA) for the in vitro detection of cervical and breast cancer cells by fluorescence imaging.
Systemic immune-related spleen radiomics predict progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer underwent definitive chemoradiotherapy
Li Y, Guo L, Xie P, Liu Y, Li Y, Liu A and Li M
Systemic immunity is essential for driving therapeutically induced antitumor immune responses, and the spleen may reflect alterations in systemic immunity. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of contrast-enhanced CT-based spleen radiomics for progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) who underwent definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT). Additionally, we investigated the role of spleen radiomics features and changes in spleen volume in assessing systemic immunity.
Diagnostic significance of ultrasound characteristics in discriminating follicular thyroid carcinoma from adenoma
Xu R, Wen W, Zhang Y, Qian L and Liu Y
Follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) is the second most common cancer of the thyroid gland and has a greater propensity for haematogenous metastasis. However, the preoperative differentiation of FTC from follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) is not well established. Certain ultrasound characteristics are associated with an increased risk of thyroid malignancy, but mainly for papillary thyroid cancers and not for FTC.
Prior information guided deep-learning model for tumor bed segmentation in breast cancer radiotherapy
Huang P, Yan H, Shang J and Xie X
Tumor bed (TB) is the residual cavity of resected tumor after surgery. Delineating TB from CT is crucial in generating clinical target volume for radiotherapy. Due to multiple surgical effects and low image contrast, segmenting TB from soft tissue is challenging. In clinical practice, titanium clips were used as marks to guide the searching of TB. However, this information is limited and may cause large error. To provide more prior location information, the tumor regions on both pre-operative and post-operative CTs are both used by the deep learning model in segmenting TB from surrounding tissues.
Diagnostic performance of adult-based thyroid imaging reporting and data systems in pediatric thyroid carcinoma: a retrospective study
Li W, Du Y, Wei Y, Feng R, Wang Y, Yang X, Wang H and Li J
Thyroid nodules diagnosed in children pose a greater risk of malignancy compared to those in adults. However, there is no ultrasound thyroid nodule evaluation system aimed at children. The objective of this research is to assess the diagnostic performance of the adult-based American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR-TIRADS) and Chinese Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (C-TIRADS) in pediatric thyroid carcinoma.
Prediction of esophageal fistula in radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy for patients with advanced esophageal cancer by a clinical-deep learning radiomics model : Prediction of esophageal fistula in radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy patients
Zhang Y, Cheng X, Luo X, Sun R, Huang X, Liu L, Zhu M and Li X
Esophageal fistula (EF), a rare and potentially fatal complication, can be better managed with predictive models for personalized treatment plans in esophageal cancers. We aim to develop a clinical-deep learning radiomics model for effectively predicting the occurrence of EF.
The predictive value of nomogram for adnexal cystic-solid masses based on O-RADS US, clinical and laboratory indicators
Jin C, Deng M, Bei Y, Zhang C, Wang S, Yang S, Qiu L, Liu X and Chen Q
Ovarian cancer remains a leading cause of death among women, largely due to its asymptomatic early stages and high mortality when diagnosed late. Early detection significantly improves survival rates, and the Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System Ultrasound (O-RADS US) is currently the most commonly used method, but has limitations in specificity and accuracy. While O-RADS US has standardized reporting, its sensitivity can lead to the misdiagnosis of benign masses as malignant, resulting in overtreatment. This study aimed to construct a nomogram model based on the O-RADS US and clinical and laboratory indicators to predict the malignancy risk of adnexal cystic-solid masses.
The study on ultrasound image classification using a dual-branch model based on Resnet50 guided by U-net segmentation results
Yang X, Qu S, Wang Z, Li L, An X and Cong Z
In recent years, the incidence of nodular thyroid diseases has been increasing annually. Ultrasonography has become a routine diagnostic tool for thyroid nodules due to its high real-time capabilities and low invasiveness. However, thyroid images obtained from current ultrasound tests often have low resolution and are plagued by significant noise interference. Regional differences in medical conditions and varying levels of physician experience can impact the accuracy and efficiency of diagnostic results. With the advancement of deep learning technology, deep learning models are used to identify whether a nodule in a thyroid ultrasound image is benign or malignant. This helps to close the gap between doctors' experience and equipment differences, improving the accuracy of the initial diagnosis of thyroid nodules. To cope with the problem that thyroid ultrasound images contain complex background and noise as well as poorly defined local features. in this paper, we first construct an improved ResNet50 classification model that uses a two-branch input and incorporates a global attention lightening module. This model is used to improve the accuracy of benign and malignant nodule classification in thyroid ultrasound images and to reduce the computational effort due to the two-branch structure.We constructed a U-net segmentation model incorporating our proposed ACR module, which uses hollow convolution with different dilation rates to capture multi-scale contextual information for feature extraction of nodules in thyroid ultrasound images and uses the results of the segmentation task as an auxiliary branch for the classification task to guide the classification model to focus on the lesion region more efficiently in the case of weak local features. The classification model is guided to focus on the lesion region more efficiently, and the classification and segmentation sub-networks are respectively improved specifically for this study, which is used to improve the accuracy of classifying the benign and malignant nature of the nodules in thyroid ultrasound images. The experimental results show that the four evaluation metrics of accuracy, precision, recall, and f1 of the improved model are 96.01%, 93.3%, 98.8%, and 96.0%, respectively. The improvements were 5.7%, 1.6%, 13.1%, and 7.4%, respectively, compared with the baseline classification model.
Computed tomography enterography radiomics and machine learning for identification of Crohn's disease
Shi Q, Hao Y, Liu H, Liu X, Yan W, Mao J and Chen BT
Crohn's disease is a severe chronic and relapsing inflammatory bowel disease. Although contrast-enhanced computed tomography enterography is commonly used to evaluate crohn's disease, its imaging findings are often nonspecific and can overlap with other bowel diseases. Recent studies have explored the application of radiomics-based machine learning algorithms to aid in the diagnosis of medical images. This study aims to develop a non-invasive method for detecting bowel lesions associated with Crohn's disease using CT enterography radiomics and machine learning algorithms.
T1 mapping-based radiomics in the identification of histological types of lung cancer: a reproducibility and feasibility study
Jiang J, Xiao Y, Liu J, Cui L, Shao W, Hao S, Xu G, Fu Y and Hu C
T1 mapping can quantify the longitudinal relaxation time of tissues. This study aimed to investigate the repeatability and reproducibility of T1 mapping radiomics features of lung cancer and the feasibility of T1 mapping-based radiomics model to predict its pathological types.
Correction: CT coronary fractional flow reserve based on artificial intelligence using different software: a repeatability study
Li J, Yang Z, Sun Z, Zhao L, Liu A, Wang X, Jin Q and Zhang G
Comparison of different acceleration factors of artificial intelligence-compressed sensing for brachial plexus MRI imaging: scanning time and image quality
Cheng T, Li F, Jiang X, Yu D, Wei J, Yuan Y and Xu H
3D brachial plexus MRI scanning is prone to examination failure due to the lengthy scan times, which can lead to patient discomfort and motion artifacts. Our purpose is to investigate the efficacy of artificial intelligence-assisted compressed sensing (ACS) in improving the acceleration efficiency and maintaining or enhancing the image quality of brachial plexus MR imaging.
Computerized tomography features acting as predictors for invasive therapy in the management of Crohn's disease-related spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess: experience from long-term follow-up
Sun Y, Liu W, Ma Y, Yang H, Li Y, Tan B, Li J and Qian J
Decision-making in the management of Crohn's disease (CD)-related spontaneous intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) is challenging. This study aims to reveal predictive factors for percutaneous drainage and/or surgery in the treatment of CD-related spontaneous IAA through long-term follow-up.
A CT-based radiomics analyses for differentiating drug‑resistant and drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis
Jiang F, Xu C, Wang Y and Xu Q
To explore the value of computed tomography based radiomics in the differential diagnosis of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.
Establishment of an MRI-based radiomics model for distinguishing between intramedullary spinal cord tumor and tumefactive demyelinating lesion
Zhang Z, Li N, Qian Y and Cheng H
Differentiating intramedullary spinal cord tumor (IMSCT) from spinal cord tumefactive demyelinating lesion (scTDL) remains challenging with standard diagnostic approaches. This study aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based radiomics model for distinguishing scTDL from IMSCT before treatment initiation.
F-FDG PET/CT for predicting inferior vena cava wall invasion in patients of renal cell carcinoma with the presence of inferior vena cava tumor thrombus
Zhu A, Hou X, Guo N and Zhang W
Preoperative evaluation of inferior vena cava (IVC) wall invasion is very important to improve outcomes of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and may allow surgical urologists to treat the IVC more effectively. The objective of this study was to evaluate preoperative F-FDG PET/CT in patients with RCC and IVC tumor thrombus (IVCTT) for the diagnosis of IVC wall invasion.