Xiaonan Cui1, Sunyi Zheng2, Marjolein A Heuvelmans3, Yihui Du3, Grigory Sidorenkov3, Shuxuan Fan4, Yanju Li4, Yongsheng Xie4, Zhongyuan Zhu4, Monique D Dorrius5, Yingru Zhao4, Raymond N J Veldhuis6, Geertruida H de Bock3, Matthijs Oudkerk7, Peter M A van Ooijen8, Rozemarijn Vliegenthart5, Zhaoxiang Ye9. 1. Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Centre of Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Department of Radiology, Tianjin, People's Republic of China; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Radiology, Groningen, the Netherlands. 2. Westlake University, Artificial Intelligence and Biomedical Image Analysis Lab, School of Engineering, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China; Institute of Advanced Technology, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Radiation Oncology, Groningen, the Netherlands. 3. University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Epidemiology, Groningen, the Netherlands. 4. Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Centre of Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Department of Radiology, Tianjin, People's Republic of China. 5. University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Radiology, Groningen, the Netherlands. 6. University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering Mathematics and Computer Science, the Netherlands. 7. University of Groningen, Faculty of Medical Sciences, the Netherlands. 8. University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Radiation Oncology, Groningen, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Machine Learning Lab, Data Science Center in Health, Groningen, the Netherlands. 9. Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Centre of Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Department of Radiology, Tianjin, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: zye@tmu.edu.cn.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of a deep learning-based computer-aided detection (DL-CAD) system in a Chinese low-dose CT (LDCT) lung cancer screening program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One-hundred-and-eighty individuals with a lung nodule on their baseline LDCT lung cancer screening scan were randomly mixed with screenees without nodules in a 1:1 ratio (total: 360 individuals). All scans were assessed by double reading and subsequently processed by an academic DL-CAD system. The findings of double reading and the DL-CAD system were then evaluated by two senior radiologists to derive the reference standard. The detection performance was evaluated by the Free Response Operating Characteristic curve, sensitivity and false-positive (FP) rate. The senior radiologists categorized nodules according to nodule diameter, type (solid, part-solid, non-solid) and Lung-RADS. RESULTS: The reference standard consisted of 262 nodules ≥ 4 mm in 196 individuals; 359 findings were considered false positives. The DL-CAD system achieved a sensitivity of 90.1% with 1.0 FP/scan for detection of lung nodules regardless of size or type, whereas double reading had a sensitivity of 76.0% with 0.04 FP/scan (P = 0.001). The sensitivity for detection of nodules ≥ 4 - ≤ 6 mm was significantly higher with DL-CAD than with double reading (86.3% vs. 58.9% respectively; P = 0.001). Sixty-three nodules were only identified by the DL-CAD system, and 27 nodules only found by double reading. The DL-CAD system reached similar performance compared to double reading in Lung-RADS 3 (94.3% vs. 90.0%, P = 0.549) and Lung-RADS 4 nodules (100.0% vs. 97.0%, P = 1.000), but showed a higher sensitivity in Lung-RADS 2 (86.2% vs. 65.4%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The DL-CAD system can accurately detect pulmonary nodules on LDCT, with an acceptable false-positive rate of 1 nodule per scan and has higher detection performance than double reading. This DL-CAD system may assist radiologists in nodule detection in LDCT lung cancer screening.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of a deep learning-based computer-aided detection (DL-CAD) system in a Chinese low-dose CT (LDCT) lung cancer screening program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One-hundred-and-eighty individuals with a lung nodule on their baseline LDCT lung cancer screening scan were randomly mixed with screenees without nodules in a 1:1 ratio (total: 360 individuals). All scans were assessed by double reading and subsequently processed by an academic DL-CAD system. The findings of double reading and the DL-CAD system were then evaluated by two senior radiologists to derive the reference standard. The detection performance was evaluated by the Free Response Operating Characteristic curve, sensitivity and false-positive (FP) rate. The senior radiologists categorized nodules according to nodule diameter, type (solid, part-solid, non-solid) and Lung-RADS. RESULTS: The reference standard consisted of 262 nodules ≥ 4 mm in 196 individuals; 359 findings were considered false positives. The DL-CAD system achieved a sensitivity of 90.1% with 1.0 FP/scan for detection of lung nodules regardless of size or type, whereas double reading had a sensitivity of 76.0% with 0.04 FP/scan (P = 0.001). The sensitivity for detection of nodules ≥ 4 - ≤ 6 mm was significantly higher with DL-CAD than with double reading (86.3% vs. 58.9% respectively; P = 0.001). Sixty-three nodules were only identified by the DL-CAD system, and 27 nodules only found by double reading. The DL-CAD system reached similar performance compared to double reading in Lung-RADS 3 (94.3% vs. 90.0%, P = 0.549) and Lung-RADS 4 nodules (100.0% vs. 97.0%, P = 1.000), but showed a higher sensitivity in Lung-RADS 2 (86.2% vs. 65.4%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The DL-CAD system can accurately detect pulmonary nodules on LDCT, with an acceptable false-positive rate of 1 nodule per scan and has higher detection performance than double reading. This DL-CAD system may assist radiologists in nodule detection in LDCT lung cancer screening.