Thyroid ultrasound database may spur better diagnostic models

A thyroid ultrasound imaging database could spur the development of more effective diagnostic and treatment models for related diseases, according to research published January 23 in Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. A team led by Xiang Li from Northeastern University in Shenyang highlighted that its imaging database can make way for developing more accurate computer-aided detection (CAD) systems to analyze thyroid nodule-related lesions found on ultrasound. It also introduced a marker mask inpainting (MMI) method to erase artificial markers and improve image quality. “This database collects a wide variety of nodule images, including different brightness levels, positions, numbers, and cuts, which is as consistent as possible with real-world application scenarios and helps to train more robust models,” the Li team wrote. Ultrasound is a first-line method in the screening and diagnosing of thyroid nodules. It’s also used to guide fine-needle aspiration biopsy and subsequent treatment. However, it is physician-dependent, with clinicians having to contend with ultrasound’s low contrast, high noise, and the diverse appearance of nodules on imaging. CAD methods have been implemented to aid radiologists, but the researchers noted that it can be difficult to obtain a high-quality and annotated thyroid data set. One reason is that radiologists place markers on images to outline where the lesions are to inform other clinicians. These markers can impact the performance of C...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Subspecialties Ultrasound Head and Neck Radiology Source Type: news