Deep learning-assisted diagnosis of femoral trochlear dysplasia based on magnetic resonance imaging measurements

BACKGROUND Femoral trochlear dysplasia(FTD) is an important risk factor for patellar instability. Dejour classification is widely used at present and relies on standard lateral X-rays, which are not common in clinical work. Therefore, magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) has become the first choice for the diagnosis of FTD. However, manually measuring is tedious, time-consuming, and easily produces great variability.AIM To use artificial intelligence(AI) to assist diagnosing FTD on MRI images and to evaluate its reliability.METHODS We searched 464 knee MRI cases between January 2019 and December 2020, including FTD(n = 202) and normal trochlea(n = 252). This paper adopts the heatmap regression method to detect the key points network. For the final evaluation, several metrics(accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, etc.) were calculated.RESULTS The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the AI model ranged from 0.74-0.96. All values were superior to junior doctors and intermediate doctors, similar to senior doctors. However, diagnostic time was much lower than that of junior doctors and intermediate doctors.CONCLUSION The diagnosis of FTD on knee MRI can be aided by AI and can be achieved with a high level of accuracy.