The Application of Ultrasound Image-Based Radiomics in the Diagnosis of Mild Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: The ultrasound diagnosis of mild carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is challenging. Radiomics can identify image information that the human eye cannot recognize. The purpose of our study was to explore the value of ultrasound image-based radiomics in the diagnosis of mild CTS.

METHODS: This retrospective study included 126 wrists in the CTS group and 88 wrists in the control group. The radiomics features were extracted from the cross-sectional ultrasound images at the entrance of median nerve carpal tunnel, and the modeling was based on robust features. Two radiologists with different experiences diagnosed CTS according to two guidelines. The area under receiver (AUC) operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the two radiologists and the radiomics model.

RESULTS: According to guideline one, the AUC values of the two radiologists for CTS were 0.72 and 0.67, respectively; according to guideline two, the AUC were 0.73 and 0.68, respectively. The radiomics model achieved the best accuracy when 16 important robust features were selected. The AUC values of training set and test set were 0.92 and 0.90, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The radiomics label based on ultrasound images had excellent diagnostic efficacy for mild CTS. It is expected to help radiologists to identify early CTS patients as soon as possible, especially for inexperienced doctors.