Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Accurate measurements on x-rays of the extent to which the hip socket covers the femoral head are critical when planning hip surgeries, and a group at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia has developed a novel method that yields more reproducible calculations compared with the traditional method. Click here for more details.
AI used for digital x-ray grabbed a significant number of headlines since our last newsletter, with research on the technology’s potential clinical impact leading the way, as in these stories we posted:
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Fine-tuned LLMs show potential as proofreading applications for radiology reports, a group at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City reported.
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In a study published in JAMA Network Open, a team at Northwestern University showed how it gained a 15.5% documentation efficiency benefit by using a generative AI model to draft x-ray reports.
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Researchers at Oxford University showed how AI assistance with a commercially available tool can improve the ability of clinicians to identify misplaced endotracheal tubes.
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According to a group at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, using AI to analyze chest x-rays could be a cost-effective way to screen for osteoporosis in U.S. women ages 50 and over.
That wasn’t all we covered in AI, however. A group at the University of Houston has developed a “collaborative system” that integrates eye gaze data and radiology reports. The team suggested that the system may be able to correct perceptual errors when radiologists interpret chest x-rays. We wondered whether the goal is to make AI more human, so we asked expert Jeremy Wolfe, MD, of Harvard Medical School, that very question.
Speaking of eye gaze data, we noted a study by a group in China suggesting that radiology students can better detect lesions with training that enhances their peripheral visual perception.
We also covered research on dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), with a large observational analysis failing to detect any clinically meaningful benefit of statin use on bone mineral density (BMD). On a more positive note, another DEXA study demonstrated for the first time a positive association between dietary choline with BMD in postmenopausal women.
Finally, we featured research on potential under- and overuse of x-rays, with one study questioning whether x-rays of lacerations are necessary and another study that reasserted the first-line role of cervical spine x-ray as a screening exam in blunt pediatric trauma patients.
For more x-ray news, be sure to check in regularly with our Digital X-Ray content area. And as always, if you have x-ray topics you’d like us to consider, please contact me.
Will Morton
Associate Editor
AuntMinnie.com