Reviewing the relationship between machines and radiology: the application of artificial intelligence

The scope and productivity of artificial intelligence applications in health science and medicine, particularly in medical imaging, are rapidly progressing, with relatively recent developments in big data and deep learning and increasingly powerful computer algorithms. Accordingly, there are a number of opportunities and challenges for the radiological community.

To provide review on the challenges and barriers experienced in diagnostic radiology on the basis of the key clinical applications of machine learning techniques.

Studies published in 2010-2019 were selected that report on the efficacy of machine learning models. A single contingency table was selected for each study to report the highest accuracy of radiology professionals and machine learning algorithms, and a meta-analysis of studies was conducted based on contingency tables.

The specificity for all the deep learning models ranged from 39% to 100%, whereas sensitivity ranged from 85% to 100%. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 89% and 85% for the deep learning algorithms for detecting abnormalities compared to 75% and 91% for radiology experts, respectively. The pooled specificity and sensitivity for comparison between radiology professionals and deep learning algorithms were 91% and 81% for deep learning models and 85% and 73% for radiology professionals (p < 0.000), respectively. The pooled sensitivity detection was 82% for health-care professionals and 83% for deep learning algorithms (p < 0.005).

Radiomic information extracted through machine learning programs form images that may not be discernible through visual examination, thus may improve the prognostic and diagnostic value of data sets.