Radiomics quality score in renal masses: a systematic assessment on current literature

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Background:

• Radiomics analysis of renal masses is a growing field.
• Standardized quality assessment of radiomics methodology is lacking.
• The Radiomics Quality Score (RQS) offers a quantitative approach to evaluate study quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically assess and analyze the quality of radiomics methodology in renal mass evaluation.
• To apply the Radiomics Quality Score (RQS) to existing literature.
• To identify deficiencies in current radiomics reporting for renal masses.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of radiomics literature on renal masses (2015-2021).
• Evaluation of 87 studies using the Radiomics Quality Score (RQS) by two independent reviewers.
• Analysis of RQS distribution and identification of high-scoring categories.

Main Results:

• The overall scientific quality and reporting of radiomics studies for renal masses were suboptimal.
• The average RQS ranged from 5 to 19 (maximum attainable 36).
• Few studies (8%) achieved high RQS scores (17-19), while 45% scored 13-15.

Conclusions:

• Current radiomics methodology in renal mass evaluation requires significant improvement.
• Future studies must address identified reporting deficiencies.
• The RQS is a valuable tool for assessing radiomics quality prior to clinical application.