Primary clinical study of radiomics for diagnosing simple bone cyst of the jaw

To screen the radiomic features of simple bone cysts of the jaws and explore the potential application of radiomics in pre-operative diagnosis of jaw simple bone cysts.

The investigators designed and implemented a case-control study. 19 patients with simple bone cysts who were admitted to the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Sun Yat-sen University Affiliated Stomatology Hospital from 2013 to 2019 were included in this study. Their clinical data and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images were examined. The control group consisted of patients with odontogenic keratocyst. CBCT imaging features were analyzed and compared between the patient and control groups.

Overall, 10,323 image features were extracted through feature analysis. A subset of 25 radiomic features obtained after feature selection were analyzed further. These 25 features were significantly different between the 2 groups (p < 0.05). The absolute value of correlation coefficient was 0.487-0.775. Gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) contrast, neighborhood gray tone difference matrix (NGTDM) contrast, and GLCM variance were the features with the highest correlation coefficients.

Pre-operative radiomics analysis showed the differences between simple bone cysts and odontogenic keratocysts, can help to diagnose simple bone cysts. Three specific texture features-GLCM contrast, NGTDM contrast, and GLCM variance-may be the characteristic imaging features of simple bone cysts of the jaw.