Open Access
CC BY 4.0 · Nuklearmedizin 2023; 62(06): 361-369
DOI: 10.1055/a-2198-0545
Original Article

Methodological evaluation of original articles on radiomics and machine learning for outcome prediction based on positron emission tomography (PET)

Methodische Bewertung von Originalartikeln zu Radiomics und Machine Learning für Outcome-Vorhersagen basierend auf der Positronen-Emissions-Tomografie (PET)
1   Department of Nuclear Medicine, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2   Berlin Institute of Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin
,
Kuangyu Shi
3   Department of Nuclear Medicine, Inselspital University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland (Ringgold ID: RIN27252)
,
David Kersting
4   Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39081)
,
Robert Seifert
4   Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany (Ringgold ID: RIN39081)
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Abstract

Aim Despite a vast number of articles on radiomics and machine learning in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, clinical applicability remains limited, partly owing to poor methodological quality. We therefore systematically investigated the methodology described in publications on radiomics and machine learning for PET-based outcome prediction.

Methods A systematic search for original articles was run on PubMed. All articles were rated according to 17 criteria proposed by the authors. Criteria with >2 rating categories were binarized into “adequate” or “inadequate”. The association between the number of “adequate” criteria per article and the date of publication was examined.

Results One hundred articles were identified (published between 07/2017 and 09/2023). The median proportion of articles per criterion that were rated “adequate” was 65% (range: 23–98%). Nineteen articles (19%) mentioned neither a test cohort nor cross-validation to separate training from testing. The median number of criteria with an “adequate” rating per article was 12.5 out of 17 (range, 4–17), and this did not increase with later dates of publication (Spearman’s rho, 0.094; p = 0.35). In 22 articles (22%), less than half of the items were rated “adequate”. Only 8% of articles published the source code, and 10% made the dataset openly available.

Conclusion Among the articles investigated, methodological weaknesses have been identified, and the degree of compliance with recommendations on methodological quality and reporting shows potential for improvement. Better adherence to established guidelines could increase the clinical significance of radiomics and machine learning for PET-based outcome prediction and finally lead to the widespread use in routine clinical practice.

Supporting information



Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 15. September 2023

Angenommen: 25. Oktober 2023

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
23. November 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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