Dataset Information

Thyroid ultrasound image classification using a convolutional neural network.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ultrasound (US) is widely used in the clinical diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Artificial intelligence-powered US is becoming an important issue in the research community. This study aimed to develop an improved deep learning model-based algorithm to classify benign and malignant thyroid nodules (TNs) using thyroid US images.

Methods

In total, 592 patients with 600 TNs were included in the internal training, validation, and testing data set; 187 patients with 200 TNs were recruited for the external test data set. We developed a Visual Geometry Group (VGG)-16T model, based on the VGG-16 architecture, but with additional batch normalization (BN) and dropout layers in addition to the fully connected layers. We conducted a 10-fold cross-validation to analyze the performance of the VGG-16T model using a data set of gray-scale US images from 5 different brands of US machines.

Results

For the internal data set, the VGG-16T model had 87.43% sensitivity, 85.43% specificity, and 86.43% accuracy. For the external data set, the VGG-16T model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.829 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.770-0.879], a radiologist with 15 years' working experience achieved an AUC of 0.705 (95% CI: 0.659-0.801), a radiologist with 10 years' experience achieved an AUC of 0.725 (95% CI: 0.653-0.797), and a radiologist with 5 years' experience achieved an AUC of 0.660 (95% CI: 0.584-0.736).

Conclusions

The VGG-16T model had high specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy in differentiating between malignant and benign TNs. Its diagnostic performance was superior to that of experienced radiologists. Thus, the proposed improved deep-learning model can assist radiologists to diagnose thyroid cancer.

SUBMITTER: Zhu YC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8576712 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Thyroid ultrasound image classification using a convolutional neural network.

Zhu Yi-Cheng YC Jin Peng-Fei PF Bao Jie J Jiang Quan Q Wang Ximing X

Annals of translational medicine 20211001 20

<h4>Background</h4>Ultrasound (US) is widely used in the clinical diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Artificial intelligence-powered US is becoming an important issue in the research community. This study aimed to develop an improved deep learning model-based algorithm to classify benign and malignant thyroid nodules (TNs) using thyroid US images.<h4>Methods</h4>In total, 592 patients with 600 TNs were included in the internal training, validation, and testing data set; 187 patients with 200 TNs were ...[more]

PMID: 34790732

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Project description:Objective:The incidence of superficial organ diseases has increased rapidly in recent years. New methods such as computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) are widely used to improve diagnostic efficiency. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are one of the most popular methods, and further improvements of CNNs should be considered. This paper aims to develop a multiorgan CAD system based on CNNs for classifying both thyroid and breast nodules and investigate the impact of this system on the diagnostic efficiency of different preprocessing approaches. Methods:The training and validation sets comprised randomly selected thyroid and breast nodule images. The data were subgrouped into 4 models according to the different preprocessing methods (depending on segmentation and the classification method). A prospective data set was selected to verify the clinical value of the CNN model by comparison with ultrasound guidelines. Diagnostic efficiency was assessed based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results:Among the 4 models, the CNN model using segmented images for classification achieved the best result. For the validation set, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), accuracy, and area under the curve (AUC) of our CNN model were 84.9%, 69.0%, 62.5%, 88.2%, 75.0%, and 0.769, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the CNN model and the ultrasound guidelines. The combination of the two methods achieved superior diagnostic efficiency compared with their use individually. Conclusions:The study demonstrates the probability, feasibility, and clinical value of CAD in the ultrasound diagnosis of multiple organs. The use of segmented images and classification by the nature of the disease are the main factors responsible for the improvement of the CNN model. Moreover, the combination of the CNN model and ultrasound guidelines results in better diagnostic performance, which will contribute to the improved diagnostic efficiency of CAD systems.

Dataset Information

Thyroid ultrasound image classification using a convolutional neural network.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Thyroid ultrasound image classification using a convolutional neural network.

Similar Datasets

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