A deep learning-based framework for the malignancy analysis of thyroid lesions in contrast-enhanced ultrasound videos.

Background

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Objective

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is widely used for evaluating thyroid nodule malignancy, but conventional time-intensity curve (TIC) analysis is labor-intensive and operator-dependent. This study proposes LSTAC, an automated framework for nodule segmentation and TIC analysis in CEUS videos.

Methods

LSTAC integrates an improved YOLOv5-based segmentation network with a peak intensity frame (PIF) extraction algorithm to enable automatic nodule localization, TIC generation, and PIF identification. The framework was trained using CEUS data from 623 patients collected across three hospitals and evaluated on both internal and external validation cohorts.

Results

LSTAC achieved 3-10× higher efficiency than VueBox in PIF extraction while maintaining strong temporal accuracy (0.94, 0.77, 0.79) and structural similarity (SSIM: 0.80, 0.60, 0.67). In malignancy prediction based on PIF features, LSTAC outperformed VueBox in two of three validation sets, with AUCs of 0.8279 vs. 0.8226 and 0.8000 vs. 0.7000.

Conclusion

LSTAC provides an efficient and accurate solution for automated CEUS analysis, reducing manual workload and improving consistency in thyroid nodule assessment, with potential for clinical application.