Application research of artificial intelligence software in the analysis of thyroid nodule ultrasound image characteristics

Thyroid nodule, as a common clinical endocrine disease, has become increasingly prevalent worldwide. Ultrasound, as the premier method of thyroid imaging, plays an important role in accurately diagnosing and managing thyroid nodules. However, there is a high degree of inter- and intra-observer variability in image interpretation due to the different knowledge and experience of sonographers who have huge ultrasound examination tasks everyday. Artificial intelligence based on computer-aided diagnosis technology maybe improve the accuracy and time efficiency of thyroid nodules diagnosis. This study introduced an artificial intelligence software called SW-TH01/II to evaluate ultrasound image characteristics of thyroid nodules including echogenicity, shape, border, margin, and calcification. We included 225 ultrasound images from two hospitals in Shanghai, respectively. The sonographers and software performed characteristics analysis on the same group of images. We analyzed the consistency of the two results and used the sonographers’ results as the gold standard to evaluate the accuracy of SW-TH01/II. A total of 449 images were included in the statistical analysis. For the seven indicators, the proportions of agreement between SW-TH01/II and sonographers’ analysis results were all greater than 0.8. For the echogenicity (with very hypoechoic), aspect ratio and margin, the kappa coefficient between the two methods were above 0.75 (P