The application value of CDFI and SMI combined with serological markers in distinguishing benign and malignant thyroid nodules

A multi-task model for reliable classification of thyroid nodules in ultrasound images

Thyroid nodules are common, and patients with potential malignant lesions are usually diagnosed using ultrasound imaging to determine further treatment options. This study aims to propose a computer-aided diagnosis method for benign and malignant classification of thyroid nodules in ultrasound images. We propose a novel multi-task framework that combines the advantages of dense connectivity, Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE) connectivity, and Atrous Spatial Pyramid Pooling (ASPP) layer to enhance feature extraction. The Dense connectivity is used to optimize feature reuse, the SE connectivity to optimize feature weights, the ASPP layer to fuse feature information, and a multi-task learning framework to adjust the attention of the network. We evaluate our model using a 10-fold cross-validation approach based on our established Thyroid dataset. We assess the performance of our method using six average metrics: accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and AUC, which are 93.49, 95.54, 91.52, 91.63, 95.47, and 96.84%, respectively. Our proposed method outperforms other classification networks in all metrics, achieving optimal performance. We propose a multi-task model, DSMA-Net, for distinguishing thyroid nodules in ultrasound images. This method can further enhance the diagnostic ability of doctors for suspected cancer patients and holds promise for clinical applications.

Nomogram for preoperative estimation risk of lateral cervical lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a multicenter study

BACKGROUND

Lateral lymph node metastasis (LLNM) is frequent in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and is associated with a poor prognosis. This study aimed to developed a clinical-ultrasound (Clin-US) nomogram to predict LLNM in patients with PTC.

METHODS

In total, 2612 PTC patients from two hospitals (H1: 1732 patients in the training cohort and 578 patients in the internal testing cohort; H2: 302 patients in the external testing cohort) were retrospectively enrolled. The associations between LLNM and preoperative clinical and sonographic characteristics were evaluated by the univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. The Clin-US nomogram was built basing on multivariate logistic regression analysis. The predicting performance of Clin-US nomogram was evaluated by calibration, discrimination and clinical usefulness.

RESULTS

The age, gender, maximum diameter of tumor (tumor size), tumor position, internal echo, microcalcification, vascularization, mulifocality, and ratio of abutment/perimeter (A/P) > 0.25 were independently associated with LLNM metastatic status. In the multivariate analysis, gender, tumor size, mulifocality, position, microcacification, and A/P > 0.25 were independent correlative factors. Comparing the Clin-US nomogram and US features, Clin-US nomogram had the highest AUC both in the training cohort and testing cohorts. The Clin‑US model revealed good discrimination between PTC with LLNM and without LLNM in the training cohort (AUC = 0.813), internal testing cohort (AUC = 0.815) and external testing cohort (AUC = 0.870).

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that the ClinUS nomogram we newly developed can effectively predict LLNM in PTC patients and could help clinicians choose appropriate surgical procedures.

Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy Evaluation-Oriented Thyroid Carcinoma Auxiliary Diagnosis

OBJECTIVE

Thyroid carcinoma is one of the most common diseases with an increasing incidence worldwide in recent years. In clinical diagnosis, medical practitioners normally take a preliminary thyroid nodule grading so that highly suspected thyroid nodules can be taken into the fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy to evaluate the malignancy. However, subjective misinterpretations might lead to ambiguous risk stratification of thyroid nodules and unnecessary FNA biopsy.

METHODS

We propose a thyroid carcinoma auxiliary diagnosis method for fine-needle aspiration biopsy evaluation. Through integration of several deep learning models into a multibranch network for thyroid nodule risk stratification in the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TIRADS) with pathological features and cascading of a discriminator, our proposed method provides an intelligent auxiliary diagnosis to assist medical practitioners in determining the necessity for further FNA.

DISCUSSION

Experimental results revealed that not only was the rate at which nodules are falsely diagnosed as malignant nodules effectively reduced, which avoids the unnecessary high cost and pain of aspiration biopsy, but also previously missing detected cases were identified with high possibility. By comparing the physicians' diagnosis alone with machine-assisted diagnosis, physicians' diagnostic performance improved with the aid of our proposed method, illustrating that our model can be very helpful in clinical practice.

CONCLUSION

Our proposed method might help medical practitioners avoid subjective interpretations and inter-observer variability. For patients, reliable diagnosis is provided and unnecessary painful diagnostics can be avoided. In other superficial organs such as metastatic lymph nodes and salivary gland tumors, the proposed method might also provide a reliable auxiliary diagnosis for risk stratification.