Quantitative image quality metrics enable resource-efficient quality control of clinically applied AI-based reconstructions in MRI.

Objective: AI-based MRI reconstruction techniques improve efficiency by reducing acquisition times whilst maintaining or improving image quality. Recent recommendations from professional bodies suggest centres should perform quality assessments on AI tools. However, monitoring long-term performance presents challenges, due to model drift or system updates.

AI-augmented reconstruction provides improved image quality and enables shorter breath-holds in contrast-enhanced liver MRI.

Background: To compare liver image quality and lesion detection using an AI-augmented T1-weighted sequence on hepatobiliary-phase gadoxetate-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Fifty patients undergoing gadoxetate-enhanced MRI were recruited. Two T1-weighted Dixon sequences were utilized: a 17-s breath-hold acquisition and an accelerated 12-s breath-hold acquisition (reduced phase resolution), both reconstructed using neural network (NN) and iterative denoising (ID), NN-alone, ID-alone, and the standard method.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Idiopathic Scoliosis in Dancers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The prevalence of Idiopathic Scoliosis (IS) is 2% to 3% in the general population. The presence of a hump can be detected clinically, but only X-rays can confirm the diagnosis. Early detection and treatment can prevent IS progression and complications.

The relative contrast ratio of malignant bone lesion is highest on relative Fat Fraction maps compared with T1-weighted and b900 DWI images.

Introduction: Whole-body MRI (WB-MRI) is increasingly used in clinical practice for detection of malignant bone disease. A high relative contrast ratio (RCR) of malignant bone lesions compared with normal bone can improve disease detection in breast, prostate and myeloma malignancies. However, the RCR of malignant bone lesions on T1w, DWI and relative Fat Fraction (rFF) maps derived from Dixon T1w have not been compared.

Non-invasive CT radiomic biomarkers predict microsatellite stability status in colorectal cancer: a multicenter validation study.

Background: Microsatellite instability (MSI) status is a strong predictor of response to immunotherapy of colorectal cancer. Radiogenomic approaches promise the ability to gain insight into the underlying tumor biology using non-invasive routine clinical images. This study investigates the association between tumor morphology and the status of MSI versus microsatellite stability (MSS), validating a novel radiomic signature on an external multicenter cohort.

Response Evaluation Criteria in Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Cancers: Which to Use and How to Measure.

As the management of gastrointestinal malignancy has evolved, tumor response assessment has expanded from size-based assessments to those that include tumor enhancement, in addition to functional data such as those derived from PET and diffusion-weighted imaging. Accurate interpretation of tumor response therefore requires knowledge of imaging modalities used in gastrointestinal malignancy, anticancer therapies, and tumor biology. Targeted therapies such as immunotherapy pose additional considerations due to unique imaging response patterns and drug toxicity; as a consequence, immunotherapy response criteria have been developed.

Overcoming data scarcity in radiomics/radiogenomics using synthetic radiomic features.

Purpose: To evaluate the potential of synthetic radiomic data generation in addressing data scarcity in radiomics/radiogenomics models.

Methods: This study was conducted on a retrospectively collected cohort of 386 colorectal cancer patients (n = 2570 lesions) for whom matched contrast-enhanced CT images and gene TP53 mutational status were available. The full cohort data was divided into a training cohort (n = 2055 lesions) and an independent and fixed test set (n = 515 lesions).

Intra-patient and inter-observer image quality analysis in liver MRI study with gadoxetic acid using two different multi-arterial phase techniques.

Purpose: To evaluate intra-patient and interobserver agreement in patients who underwent liver MRI with gadoxetic acid using two different multi-arterial phase (AP) techniques.

Methods: A total of 154 prospectively enrolled patients underwent clinical gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI twice within 12 months, using two different multi-arterial algorithms: CAIPIRINHA-VIBE and TWIST-VIBE. For every patient, breath-holding time, body mass index, sex, age were recorded.

Artificial Intelligence-based Quantification of Pleural Plaque Volume and Association With Lung Function in Asbestos-exposed Patients.

Purpose: Pleural plaques (PPs) are morphologic manifestations of long-term asbestos exposure. The relationship between PP and lung function is not well understood, whereas the time-consuming nature of PP delineation to obtain volume impedes research. To automate the laborious task of delineation, we aimed to develop automatic artificial intelligence (AI)-driven segmentation of PP.

Evaluation of simultaneous multi-slice acquisition with advanced processing for free-breathing diffusion-weighted imaging in patients with liver metastasis.

Objectives: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) acquisition and advanced processing can accelerate acquisition time and improve MR image quality. This study evaluated the image quality and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements of free-breathing DWI acquired from patients with liver metastases using a prototype SMS-DWI acquisition (with/without an advanced processing option) and conventional DWI.

Methods: Four DWI schemes were compared in a pilot 5-patient cohort; three DWI schemes were further assessed in a 24-patient cohort.

Relative fat fraction of malignant bone lesions from breast cancer, prostate cancer and myeloma are significantly lower than normal bone marrow and shows excellent interobserver agreement.

Objectives: To compare relative fat fraction (rFF) of active bone lesions from breast, prostate and myeloma malignancies and normal bone marrow; to assess its inter-reader agreement.

Methods: Patients with breast ( = 26), myeloma ( = 32) and prostate cancer ( = 52) were retrospectively evaluated. 110 baseline rFF maps from whole-body MRI were reviewed by two radiologists.

Colon cancer CT staging according to mismatch repair status: Comparison and suggestion of imaging features for high-risk colon cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant treatment with either chemotherapy or immunotherapy is gaining momentum in colon cancers (CC). To reduce over-treatment, increasing staging accuracy using computed tomography (CT) is of high importance.

Purpose: To assess and compare CT imaging features of CC between mismatch repair-proficient (pMMR) and MMR-deficient (dMMR) tumours and identify CT features that can distinguish high-risk (pT3-4, N+) CC according to MMR status.

Splenic volume as a predictor of treatment response in patients with non-small cell lung cancer receiving immunotherapy.

Introduction: The spleen is a lymphoid organ and we hypothesize that clinical benefit to immunotherapy may present with an increase in splenic volume during treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether changes in splenic volume could be observed in those showing clinical benefit versus those not showing clinical benefit to pembrolizumab treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Materials And Methods: In this study, 70 patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC treated with pembrolizumab; and who underwent baseline CT scan within 2 weeks before treatment and follow-up CT within 3 months after commencing immunotherapy were retrospectively evaluated.

Sources of variation in multicenter rectal MRI data and their effect on radiomics feature reproducibility.

Objectives: To investigate sources of variation in a multicenter rectal cancer MRI dataset focusing on hardware and image acquisition, segmentation methodology, and radiomics feature extraction software.

Methods: T2W and DWI/ADC MRIs from 649 rectal cancer patients were retrospectively acquired in 9 centers. Fifty-two imaging features (14 first-order/6 shape/32 higher-order) were extracted from each scan using whole-volume (expert/non-expert) and single-slice segmentations using two different software packages (PyRadiomics/CapTk).

A decade of multi-modality PET and MR imaging in abdominal oncology.

Objectives: To investigate trends observed in a decade of published research on multimodality PET(/CT)+MR imaging in abdominal oncology, and to explore how these trends are reflected by the use of multimodality imaging performed at our institution.

Methods: First, we performed a literature search (2009-2018) including all papers published on the multimodality combination of PET(/CT) and MRI in abdominal oncology. Retrieved papers were categorized according to a structured labelling system, including study design and outcome, cancer and lesion type under investigation and PET-tracer type.

CT for lymph node staging of Colon cancer: not only size but also location and number of lymph node count.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of imaging features to predict lymph node status of colon cancer using CT.

Methods: This was a retrospective study from 2 tertiary hospitals in South Korea and Netherlands. 317 Colon cancer patients who underwent primary surgical treatment were included.

Locoregional CT staging of colon cancer: does a learning curve exist?

Purpose: To evaluate the learning curve for locoreginal staging of colon cancer in radiologist trainees.

Methods: Eighty-eight cases of colon cancer CT were included in this retrospective study. Four senior radiology residents staged the CTs according to TNM classification.