Detection, visualisation and quantification of abnormalities in lung CTs are now available at radiologists’ fingertips.
contextflow SEARCH Lung CT analyses disease patterns and nodules in lung CTs
Almost every second computed tomography (CT) scan of the lung shows abnormal findings. Most of the time these are pulmonary nodules, one possible indicator of cancer. But which findings are harmless and which need to be checked and treated? contextflow SEARCH Lung CT is a clinical decision support tool that allows radiologists to visualise and quantify these lung abnormalities and nodules.
As Markus Krenn, Chief Product Officer at contextflow, points out, “the tool provides location and extent of changes and heat maps for six image patterns, as well as visualizations and measurements of detected pulmonary nodules. In addition, SEARCH Lung CT analyses and classifies 19 image patterns in selected regions of a scan; retrieves visually-similar, expert-verified reference cases; and provides relevant links to literature, guidelines and differential diagnoses“.
A deep learning-based solution to simplify daily work
Since October 2021, a team of radiologists led by PD Mag. Dr. Med. Univ. Gerlig Widmann, Managing Senior Physician at the University Department of Radiology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, has been using SEARCH Lung CT. As Dr. Widmann points out, the Innsbruck team expects significant added value, both for their radiologists and patients, thanks to contextflow’s ability to quantify lung anomalies. He points out that the software “provides us with percentages of pathological changes, visualizes the dynamics of these changes over time and suggests reference cases with similar findings and diagnostic literature for differential diagnosis“.
The University Department of Radiology at the Medical University of Innsbruck is one of the most important radiological diagnostic institutions in Austria and, in fact, is responsible for treating the majority of pulmonary patients in Tyrol. It works closely with the departments of oncology, thoracic surgery, pneumology and lung at Natters Hospital.
A very positive integration experience
So far, the experience with SEARCH Lung CT has been very positive, as the software is performing well in segmenting abnormalities such as emphysema, reticular patterns or shadows. “The platform is very clearly structured with references to current literature, including pattern description and a list of possible differential diagnoses” says Dr. Widmann. He adds that it is possible to clearly see a set of valid reference data behind the AI, adding transparency to the results.
Dr. Widmann hopes to be able to establish a diagnosis in less time. In fact, we can anticipate the results of a forthcoming study by the Medical University of Vienna which concludes that the average report reading time was 31% shorter when SEARCH Lung CT was available for use.
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