Artificial intelligence technology enhances the performance of shear wave elastography in thyroid nodule diagnosis

To investigate the diagnostic value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in thyroid nodules diseases.

This study included 100 patients (100 nodules - 23 benign; 77 malignant) who underwent shear wave elastography (SWE) and AI imaging of nodules prior to biopsy and/or surgery in Zhangjiakou First Hospital from January 2021 to December 2021. The image diagnostic value of AI was analyzed.

Among the 100 patients, there were 77 malignant nodules (77%) and 23 benign nodules (23%). Papillary thyroid carcinoma accounted for 94.8% (74/77) of the malignant nodules, and nodular goiter accounted for 100% of the benign nodules. The overall detection rate of AI+SWE was higher than that of SWE alone (P < 0.05). The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of AI+SWE were all higher than those of SWE only (P < 0.05). The ROC curve results showed that the area under the curve of AI+SWE in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules was 0.903. This was higher than that of SWE (P < 0.05).

SWE+AI is effective in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules, and its sensitivity and specificity are better than those of SWE only.