Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is the most prevalent intracranial schwannoma. Surgery is one of the options for the treatment of VS, with the preservation of facial nerve (FN) function being the primary objective. Therefore, postoperative FN function prediction is essential. However, achieving automation for such a method remains a challenge. In this study, we proposed a fully automatic deep learning approach based on multi-sequence magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict FN function after surgery in VS patients. We first developed a segmentation network 2.5D Trans-UNet, which combined Transformer and U-Net to optimize contour segmentation for radiomic feature extraction. Next, we built a deep learning network based on the integration of 1DConvolutional Neural Network (1DCNN) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) to predict postoperative FN function using the extracted features. We trained and tested the 2.5D Trans-UNet segmentation network on public and private datasets, achieving accuracies of 89.51% and 90.66%, respectively, confirming the model's strong performance. Then Feature extraction and selection were performed on the private dataset's segmentation results using 2.5D Trans-UNet. The selected features were used to train the 1DCNN-GRU network for classification. The results showed that our proposed fully automatic radiomics pipeline outperformed the traditional radiomics pipeline on the test set, achieving an accuracy of 88.64%, demonstrating its effectiveness in predicting the postoperative FN function in VS patients. Our proposed automatic method has the potential to become a valuable decision-making tool in neurosurgery, assisting neurosurgeons in making more informed decisions regarding surgical interventions and improving the treatment of VS patients.

Cerebral vascular occlusion is a serious condition that can lead to stroke and permanent neurological damage due to insufficient oxygen and nutrients reaching brain tissue. Early diagnosis and accurate segmentation are critical for effective treatment planning. Due to its high soft tissue contrast, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is commonly used for detecting these occlusions such as ischemic stroke. However, challenges such as low contrast, noise, and heterogeneous lesion structures in MRI images complicate manual segmentation and often lead to misinterpretations. As a result, deep learning-based Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems are essential for faster and more accurate diagnosis and treatment methods, although they can sometimes face challenges such as high computational costs and difficulties in segmenting small or irregular lesions. This study proposes a novel U-Net architecture enhanced with ConvNeXtV2 blocks and GRN-based Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP) to address these challenges in cerebral vascular occlusion segmentation. This is the first application of ConvNeXtV2 in this domain. The proposed model significantly improves segmentation accuracy, even in low-contrast regions, while maintaining high computational efficiency, which is crucial for real-world clinical applications. To reduce false positives and improve overall accuracy, small lesions (≤5 pixels) were removed in the preprocessing step with the support of expert clinicians. Experimental results on the ISLES 2022 dataset showed superior performance with an Intersection over Union (IoU) of 0.8015 and a Dice coefficient of 0.8894. Comparative analyses indicate that the proposed model achieves higher segmentation accuracy than existing U-Net variants and other methods, offering a promising solution for clinical use.

To investigate the clinical efficiency of an AI-based metal artefact correction algorithm (AI-MAC), for reducing dental metal artefacts in head and neck CT, compared to conventional interpolation-based MAC. We retrospectively collected 41 patients with non-removal dental hardware who underwent non-contrast head and neck CT prior to radiotherapy. All images were reconstructed with standard reconstruction algorithm (SRA), and were additionally processed with both conventional MAC and AI-MAC. The image quality of SRA, MAC and AI-MAC were compared by qualitative scoring on a 5-point scale, with scores ≥ 3 considered interpretable. This was followed by a quantitative evaluation, including signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and artefact index (Idxartefact). Organ contouring accuracy was quantified via calculating the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and hausdorff distance (HD) for oral cavity and teeth, using the clinically accepted contouring as reference. Moreover, the treatment planning dose distribution for oral cavity was assessed. AI-MAC yielded superior qualitative image quality as well as quantitative metrics, including SNR and Idxartefact, to SRA and MAC. The image interpretability significantly improved from 41.46% for SRA and 56.10% for MAC to 92.68% for AI-MAC (p < 0.05). Compared to SRA and MAC, the best DSC and HD for both oral cavity and teeth were obtained on AI-MAC (all p < 0.05). No significant differences for dose distribution were found among the three image sets. AI-MAC outperforms conventional MAC in metal artefact reduction, achieving superior image quality with high image interpretability for patients with dental hardware undergoing head and neck CT. Furthermore, the use of AI-MAC improves the accuracy of organ contouring while providing consistent dose calculation against metal artefacts in radiotherapy. AI-MAC is a novel deep learning-based technique for reducing metal artefacts on CT. This in-vivo study first demonstrated its capability of reducing metal artefacts while preserving organ visualization, as compared with conventional MAC.

To compare the diagnostic performance of three proprietary large language models (LLMs)-Claude, GPT, and Gemini-in structuring free-text Japanese radiology reports for intracranial hemorrhage and skull fractures, and to assess the impact of three different prompting approaches on model accuracy. In this retrospective study, head CT reports from the Japan Medical Imaging Database between 2018 and 2023 were collected. Two board-certified radiologists established the ground truth regarding intracranial hemorrhage and skull fractures through independent review and consensus. Each radiology report was analyzed by three LLMs using three prompting strategies-Standard, Chain of Thought, and Self Consistency prompting. Diagnostic performance (accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score) was calculated for each LLM-prompt combination and compared using McNemar's tests with Bonferroni correction. Misclassified cases underwent qualitative error analysis. A total of 3949 head CT reports from 3949 patients (mean age 59 ± 25 years, 56.2% male) were enrolled. Across all institutions, 856 patients (21.6%) had intracranial hemorrhage and 264 patients (6.6%) had skull fractures. All nine LLM-prompt combinations achieved very high accuracy. Claude demonstrated significantly higher accuracy for intracranial hemorrhage than GPT and Gemini, and also outperformed Gemini for skull fractures (p < 0.0001). Gemini's performance improved notably with Chain of Thought prompting. Error analysis revealed common challenges including ambiguous phrases and findings unrelated to intracranial hemorrhage or skull fractures, underscoring the importance of careful prompt design. All three proprietary LLMs exhibited strong performance in structuring free-text head CT reports for intracranial hemorrhage and skull fractures. While the choice of prompting method influenced accuracy, all models demonstrated robust potential for clinical and research applications. Future work should refine the prompts and validate these approaches in prospective, multilingual settings.

To evaluate the performance of large language models (LLMs) in automatically generating whole-organ MRI score (WORMS)-based structured MRI reports and predicting osteoarthritis (OA) severity for the knee. A total of 160 consecutive patients suspected of OA were included. Knee MRI reports were reviewed by three radiologists to establish the WORMS reference standard for 39 key features. GPT-4o and GPT-4o-mini were prompted using in-context knowledge (ICK) and chain-of-thought (COT) to generate WORMS-based structured reports from original reports and to automatically predict the OA severity. Four Orthopedic surgeons reviewed original and LLM-generated reports to conduct pairwise preference and difficulty tests, and their review times were recorded. GPT-4o demonstrated perfect performance in extracting the laterality of the knee (accuracy = 100%). GPT-4o outperformed GPT-4o mini in generating WORMS reports (Accuracy: 93.9% vs 76.2%, respectively). GPT-4o achieved higher recall (87.3% s 46.7%, p < 0.001), while maintaining higher precision compared to GPT-4o mini (94.2% vs 71.2%, p < 0.001). For predicting OA severity, GPT-4o outperformed GPT-4o mini across all prompt strategies (best accuracy: 98.1% vs 68.7%). Surgeons found it easier to extract information and gave more preference to LLM-generated reports over the original reports (both p < 0.001) while spending less time on each report (51.27 ± 9.41 vs 87.42 ± 20.26 s, p < 0.001). GPT-4o generated expert multi-feature, WORMS-based reports from original free-text knee MRI reports. GPT-4o with COT achieved high accuracy in categorizing OA severity. Surgeons reported greater preference and higher efficiency when using LLM-generated reports. The perfect performance of generating WORMS-based reports and the high efficiency and ease of use suggest that integrating LLMs into clinical workflows could greatly enhance productivity and alleviate the documentation burden faced by clinicians in knee OA. GPT-4o successfully generated WORMS-based knee MRI reports. GPT-4o with COT prompting achieved impressive accuracy in categorizing knee OA severity. Greater preference and higher efficiency were reported for LLM-generated reports.

Osteoporosis screening should be systematic in the group of over 50-year-old females with a radius fracture. We tested a phantom combined with machine learning model and studied osteoporosis-related variables. This machine learning model for screening osteoporosis using plain radiographs requires further investigation in larger cohorts to assess its potential as a replacement for DXA measurements in settings where DXA is not available. The main purpose of this study was to improve osteoporosis screening, especially in post-menopausal patients with fragility wrist fractures. The secondary objective was to increase understanding of the connection between osteoporosis and aging, as well as other risk factors. We collected data on 83 females > 50 years old with a distal radius fracture treated at Oulu University Hospital in 2019-2020. The data included basic patient information, WHO FRAX tool, blood tests, X-ray imaging of the fractured wrist, and DXA scanning of the non-fractured forearm, both hips, and the lumbar spine. Machine learning was used in combination with a custom phantom. Eighty-five percent of the study population had osteopenia or osteoporosis. Only 28.4% of patients had increased bone resorption activity measured by ICTP values. Total radius BMD correlated with other osteoporosis-related variables (age r =  - 0.494, BMI r = 0.273, FRAX osteoporotic fracture risk r =  - 0.419, FRAX hip fracture risk r =  - 0.433, hip BMD r = 0.435, and lumbar spine BMD r = 0.645), but the ultra distal (UD) radius BMD did not. Our custom phantom combined with a machine learning model showed potential for screening osteoporosis, with the class-wise accuracies for "Osteoporotic vs. osteopenic & normal bone" of 76% and 75%, respectively. We suggest osteoporosis screening for all females over 50 years old with wrist fractures. We found that the total radius BMD correlates with the central BMD. Due to the limited sample size in the phantom and machine learning parts of the study, further research is needed to make a clinically useful tool for screening osteoporosis.

<i>"Just Accepted" papers have undergone full peer review and have been accepted for publication in <i>Radiology: Artificial Intelligence</i>. This article will undergo copyediting, layout, and proof review before it is published in its final version. Please note that during production of the final copyedited article, errors may be discovered which could affect the content.</i> Artificial Intelligence (AI) has demonstrated strong potential in automating medical imaging tasks, with potential applications across disease diagnosis, prognosis, treatment planning, and posttreatment surveillance. However, privacy concerns surrounding patient data remain a major barrier to the widespread adoption of AI in clinical practice, as large and diverse training datasets are essential for developing accurate, robust, and generalizable AI models. Federated Learning offers a privacy-preserving solution by enabling collaborative model training across institutions without sharing sensitive data. Instead, model parameters, such as model weights, are exchanged between participating sites. Despite its potential, federated learning is still in its early stages of development and faces several challenges. Notably, sensitive information can still be inferred from the shared model parameters. Additionally, postdeployment data distribution shifts can degrade model performance, making uncertainty quantification essential. In federated learning, this task is particularly challenging due to data heterogeneity across participating sites. This review provides a comprehensive overview of federated learning, privacy-preserving federated learning, and uncertainty quantification in federated learning. Key limitations in current methodologies are identified, and future research directions are proposed to enhance data privacy and trustworthiness in medical imaging applications. ©RSNA, 2025.

Urodynamic studies (UDS) are essential for evaluating lower urinary tract function but are limited by patient discomfort, lack of standardization and diagnostic variability. Advances in technology aim to address these challenges and improve diagnostic accuracy and patient comfort. AUM offers physiological assessment by allowing natural bladder filling and monitoring during daily activities. Compared to conventional UDS, AUM demonstrates higher sensitivity for detecting detrusor overactivity and underlying pathophysiology. However, it faces challenges like motion artifacts, catheter-related discomfort, and difficulty measuring continuous bladder volume. Emerging devices such as Urodynamics Monitor and UroSound offer more patient-friendly alternatives. These tools have the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy for bladder pressure and voiding metrics but remain limited and still require further validation and testing. Ultrasound-based modalities, including dynamic ultrasonography and shear wave elastography, provide real-time, noninvasive assessment of bladder structure and function. These modalities are promising but will require further development of standardized protocols. AI and machine learning models enhance diagnostic accuracy and reduce variability in UDS interpretation. Applications include detecting detrusor overactivity and distinguishing bladder outlet obstruction from detrusor underactivity. However, further validation is required for clinical adoption. Advances in AUM, wearable technologies, ultrasonography, and AI demonstrate potential for transforming UDS into a more accurate, patient-centered tool. Despite significant progress, challenges like technical complexity, standardization, and cost-effectiveness must be addressed to integrate these innovations into routine practice. Nonetheless, these technologies provide the possibility of a future of improved diagnosis and treatment of lower urinary tract dysfunction.

Bone fracture risk assessment for osteoporotic patients is essential for implementing early countermeasures and preventing discomfort and hospitalization. Current methodologies, such as Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX), provide a risk assessment over a 5- to 10-year period rather than evaluating the bone's current health status. The database was collected by Ajou University Medical Center from 2017 to 2021. It included 9,260 patients, aged 55 to 99, comprising 242 femur fracture (FX) cases and 9,018 non-fracture (NFX) cases. To model the association of the bone's current health status with prevalent FXs, three prediction algorithms-extreme gradient boosting (XGB), support vector machine, and multilayer perceptron-were trained using two-dimensional dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (2D-DXA) analysis results and subsequently benchmarked. The XGB classifier, which proved most effective, was then further refined using synthetic data generated by the adaptive synthetic oversampler to balance the FX and NFX classes and enhance boundary sharpness for better classification accuracy. The XGB model trained on raw data demonstrated good prediction capabilities, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.78 and an F1 score of 0.71 on test cases. The inclusion of synthetic data improved classification accuracy in terms of both specificity and sensitivity, resulting in an AUC of 0.99 and an F1 score of 0.98. The proposed methodology demonstrates that current bone health can be assessed through post-processed results from 2D-DXA analysis. Moreover, it was also shown that synthetic data can help stabilize uneven databases by balancing majority and minority classes, thereby significantly improving classification performance.

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally, where early detection and accurate diagnosis are critical for improving survival rates. While deep learning, particularly convolutional neural networks (CNNs), has revolutionized medical image analysis by detecting subtle patterns indicative of early-stage lung cancer, its adoption faces challenges. These models are often computationally expensive and require significant resources, making them unsuitable for resource constrained environments. Additionally, their lack of transparency hinders trust and broader adoption in sensitive fields like healthcare. Knowledge distillation addresses these challenges by transferring knowledge from large, complex models (teachers) to smaller, lightweight models (students). We propose a knowledge distillation-based approach for lung cancer detection, incorporating explainable AI (XAI) techniques to enhance model transparency. Eight CNNs, including ResNet50, EfficientNetB0, EfficientNetB3, and VGG16, are evaluated as teacher models. We developed and trained a lightweight student model, Distilled Custom Student Network (DCSNet) using ResNet50 as the teacher. This approach not only ensures high diagnostic performance in resource-constrained settings but also addresses transparency concerns, facilitating the adoption of AI-driven diagnostic tools in healthcare.