Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot Study

Background/Objectives: Elastography increased the diagnostic accuracy of liver fibrosis. However, several challenges persist, including the widespread utilization of equipment, difficulties in measuring certain cases, and the influence of viscosity factors. A rough surface and a blunted hepatic marg...

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Main Authors: Itsuki Fujii, Naoki Matsumoto, Masahiro Ogawa, Aya Konishi, Masahiro Kaneko, Yukinobu Watanabe, Ryota Masuzaki, Hirofumi Kogure, Norihiro Koizumi, Masahiko Sugitani
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Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Diagnostics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/14/22/2585
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author Itsuki Fujii
Naoki Matsumoto
Masahiro Ogawa
Aya Konishi
Masahiro Kaneko
Yukinobu Watanabe
Ryota Masuzaki
Hirofumi Kogure
Norihiro Koizumi
Masahiko Sugitani
author_facet Itsuki Fujii
Naoki Matsumoto
Masahiro Ogawa
Aya Konishi
Masahiro Kaneko
Yukinobu Watanabe
Ryota Masuzaki
Hirofumi Kogure
Norihiro Koizumi
Masahiko Sugitani
author_sort Itsuki Fujii
collection DOAJ
description Background/Objectives: Elastography increased the diagnostic accuracy of liver fibrosis. However, several challenges persist, including the widespread utilization of equipment, difficulties in measuring certain cases, and the influence of viscosity factors. A rough surface and a blunted hepatic margin have long been acknowledged as valuable characteristics indicative of hepatic fibrosis. The objective of this study was to conduct an image analysis and quantitative assessment of the contour of the sagittal section of the left lobe of the liver. Methods: Between February and October 2020, 486 consecutive outpatients underwent ultrasound examinations at our hospital. A total of 214 images were manually annotated by delineating the liver contour to create annotation images. U-Net was employed for liver segmentation, with the dataset divided into training (<i>n</i> = 128), testing (<i>n</i> = 42), and validation (<i>n</i> = 44) subsets. Additionally, 43 Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) cases with pathology data from between 2015 and 2020 were included. Segmentation was performed using the program developed in the first step. Subsequently, shape analysis was conducted using ImageJ. Results: Liver segmentation exhibited high accuracy, as indicated by Dice loss of 0.044, Intersection over Union of 0.935, and an F score of 0.966. The accuracy of the classification of the liver surface as smooth or rough via ResNet 50 was 84.6%. Image analysis showed MinFeret and Minor correlated with liver fibrosis stage (<i>p</i> = 0.046, 0.036, respectively). Sensitivity, specificity, and AUROC of Minor for ≥F3 were 0.571, 0.862, and 0.722, respectively, and F4 were 1, 0.600, and 0.825, respectively. Conclusion: Deep learning segmentation of the sagittal cross-sectional contour of the left lobe of the liver demonstrated commendable accuracy. The roughness of the liver surface was correctly judged by artificial intelligence. Image analysis showed the thickness of the left lobe inversely correlated with liver fibrosis stage.
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spelling doaj-art-e4d65718f4f7416d88f2ae8a6f1f998d2025-08-20T01:53:45ZengMDPI AGDiagnostics2075-44182024-11-011422258510.3390/diagnostics14222585Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot StudyItsuki Fujii0Naoki Matsumoto1Masahiro Ogawa2Aya Konishi3Masahiro Kaneko4Yukinobu Watanabe5Ryota Masuzaki6Hirofumi Kogure7Norihiro Koizumi8Masahiko Sugitani9Department of Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu 182-8585, JapanDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanDepartment of Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications, Chofu 182-8585, JapanDivision of Pathology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo 173-8610, JapanBackground/Objectives: Elastography increased the diagnostic accuracy of liver fibrosis. However, several challenges persist, including the widespread utilization of equipment, difficulties in measuring certain cases, and the influence of viscosity factors. A rough surface and a blunted hepatic margin have long been acknowledged as valuable characteristics indicative of hepatic fibrosis. The objective of this study was to conduct an image analysis and quantitative assessment of the contour of the sagittal section of the left lobe of the liver. Methods: Between February and October 2020, 486 consecutive outpatients underwent ultrasound examinations at our hospital. A total of 214 images were manually annotated by delineating the liver contour to create annotation images. U-Net was employed for liver segmentation, with the dataset divided into training (<i>n</i> = 128), testing (<i>n</i> = 42), and validation (<i>n</i> = 44) subsets. Additionally, 43 Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) cases with pathology data from between 2015 and 2020 were included. Segmentation was performed using the program developed in the first step. Subsequently, shape analysis was conducted using ImageJ. Results: Liver segmentation exhibited high accuracy, as indicated by Dice loss of 0.044, Intersection over Union of 0.935, and an F score of 0.966. The accuracy of the classification of the liver surface as smooth or rough via ResNet 50 was 84.6%. Image analysis showed MinFeret and Minor correlated with liver fibrosis stage (<i>p</i> = 0.046, 0.036, respectively). Sensitivity, specificity, and AUROC of Minor for ≥F3 were 0.571, 0.862, and 0.722, respectively, and F4 were 1, 0.600, and 0.825, respectively. Conclusion: Deep learning segmentation of the sagittal cross-sectional contour of the left lobe of the liver demonstrated commendable accuracy. The roughness of the liver surface was correctly judged by artificial intelligence. Image analysis showed the thickness of the left lobe inversely correlated with liver fibrosis stage.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/14/22/2585ultrasonographyartificial intelligenceimage analysisliver fibrosisfatty livermetabolic-associated steatotic liver disease
spellingShingle Itsuki Fujii
Naoki Matsumoto
Masahiro Ogawa
Aya Konishi
Masahiro Kaneko
Yukinobu Watanabe
Ryota Masuzaki
Hirofumi Kogure
Norihiro Koizumi
Masahiko Sugitani
Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot Study
Diagnostics
ultrasonography
artificial intelligence
image analysis
liver fibrosis
fatty liver
metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease
title Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot Study
title_full Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot Study
title_short Artificial Intelligence and Image Analysis-Assisted Diagnosis for Fibrosis Stage of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease Using Ultrasonography: A Pilot Study
title_sort artificial intelligence and image analysis assisted diagnosis for fibrosis stage of metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease using ultrasonography a pilot study
topic ultrasonography
artificial intelligence
image analysis
liver fibrosis
fatty liver
metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/14/22/2585
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