Application of radiomics and machine learning to thyroid diseases in nuclear medicine: a systematic review
Francesco Dondi, Roberto Gatta, Giorgio Treglia, Arnoldo Piccardo, Domenico Albano, Luca Camoni, Elisa Gatta, Maria Cavadini, Carlo Cappelli, Francesco Bertagna
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In the last years growing evidences on the role of radiomics and machine learning (ML) applied to different nuclear medicine imaging modalities for the assessment of thyroid diseases are starting to emerge. The aim of this systematic review was therefore to analyze the diagnostic performances of these technologies in this setting. METHODS: A wide literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science databases was made in order to find relevant published articles about the role of radiomics or ML on nuclear medicine imaging for the evaluation of different thyroid diseases. RESULTS: F-FDG PET, evaluation of cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules, assessment of thyroid cancer and classification of thyroid diseases using nuclear medicine techniques. CONCLUSION: Despite some intrinsic limitations of radiomics and ML may have affect the results of this review, these technologies seem to have a promising role in the assessment of thyroid diseases. Validation of preliminary findings in multicentric studies is needed to translate radiomics and ML approaches in the clinical setting.