A novel hybrid convolutional and recurrent neural network model for automatic pituitary adenoma classification using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.
Authors
Affiliations (4)
Affiliations (4)
- Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
- Department of Computer Engineering, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
- Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
- Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. [email protected].
Abstract
Pituitary adenomas, ranging from subtle microadenomas to mass-effect macroadenomas, pose diagnostic challenges for radiologists due to increasing scan volumes and the complexity of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI interpretation. A hybrid CNN-LSTM model was trained and validated on a multi-center dataset of 2,163 samples from Tehran and Babolsar, Iran. Transfer learning and preprocessing techniques (e.g., Wiener filters) were utilized to improve classification performance for microadenomas (< 10 mm) and macroadenomas (> 10 mm). The model achieved 90.5% accuracy, an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.92, and 89.6% sensitivity (93.5% for microadenomas, 88.3% for macroadenomas), outperforming standard CNNs by 5-18% across metrics. With a processing time of 0.17 s per scan, the model demonstrated robustness to variations in imaging conditions, including scanner differences and contrast variations, excelling in real-time detection and differentiation of adenoma subtypes. This dual-path approach, the first to synergize spatial and temporal MRI features for pituitary diagnostics, offers high precision and efficiency. Supported by comparisons with existing models, it provides a scalable, reproducible tool to improve patient outcomes, with potential adaptability to broader neuroimaging challenges.