Artificial Intelligence for Breast US

Enhancing Breast Cancer Diagnosis: A Nomogram Model Integrating AI Ultrasound and Clinical Factors

PURPOSE

A novel nomogram incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and clinical features for enhanced ultrasound prediction of benign and malignant breast masses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study analyzed 340 breast masses identified through ultrasound in 308 patients. The masses were divided into training (n = 260) and validation (n = 80) groups. The AI-based analysis employed the Samsung Ultrasound AI system (S-detect). Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to construct nomograms using logistic regression. The AI-Nomogram was based solely on AI results, while the ClinAI- Nomogram incorporated additional clinical factors. Both nomograms underwent internal validation with 1000 bootstrap resamples and external validation using the independent validation group. Performance was evaluated by analyzing the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) and calibration curves.

RESULTS

The ClinAI-Nomogram, which incorporates patient age, AI-based mass size, and AI-based diagnosis, outperformed an existing AI-Nomogram in differentiating benign from malignant breast masses. The ClinAI-Nomogram surpassed the AI-Nomogram in predicting malignancy with significantly higher AUC scores in both training (0.873, 95% CI: 0.830-0.917 vs. 0.792, 95% CI: 0.748-0.836; p = 0.016) and validation phases (0.847, 95% CI: 0.763-0.932 vs. 0.770, 95% CI: 0.709-0.833; p < 0.001). Calibration curves further revealed excellent agreement between the ClinAI-Nomogram's predicted probabilities and actual observed risks of malignancy.

CONCLUSION

The ClinAI- Nomogram, combining AI alongside clinical data, significantly enhanced the differentiation of benign and malignant breast masses in clinical AI-facilitated ultrasound examinations.

Artificial intelligence in breast ultrasound: application in clinical practice

Ultrasound (US) is a widely accessible and extensively used tool for breast imaging. It is commonly used as an additional screening tool, especially for women with dense breast tissue. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to the development of various AI systems that assist radiologists in identifying and diagnosing breast lesions using US. This article provides an overview of the background and supporting evidence for the use of AI in hand held breast US. It discusses the impact of AI on clinical workflow, covering breast cancer detection, diagnosis, prediction of molecular subtypes, evaluation of axillary lymph node status, and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Additionally, the article highlights the potential significance of AI in breast US for low and middle income countries.