A combined model integrating radiomics and deep learning based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging for...

Radiomics and deep learning (DL) can individually and efficiently identify the pathological type of brain metastases (BMs).

To investigate the feasibility of utilizing multi-parametric MRI-based deep transfer learning radiomics (DTLR) for the classification of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and non-LUAD BMs.

A retrospective analysis was performed on 342 patients with 1389 BMs. These instances were randomly assigned to a training set of 273 (1179 BMs) and a testing set of 69 (210 BMs) in an 8:2 ratio. Eight machine learning algorithms were employed to construct the radiomics models. A DL model was developed using four pre-trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The DTLR model was formulated by integrating the optimal performing radiomics model and the DL model using a classification probability averaging approach. The area under the curve (AUC), calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were utilized to assess the performance and clinical utility of the models.

The AUC for the optimal radiomics and DL model in the testing set were 0.824 (95% confidence interval [CI]= 0.726-0.923) and 0.775 (95% CI=0.666-0.884), respectively. The DTLR model demonstrated superior discriminatory power, achieving an AUC of 0.880 (95% CI=0.803-0.957). In addition, the DTLR model exhibited good consistency between actual and predicted probabilities based on the calibration curve and DCA analysis, indicating its significant clinical value.

Our study's DTLR model demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing LUAD from non-LUAD BMs. This method shows potential for the non-invasive identification of the histological subtype of BMs.