It’s off to the races at RSNA 2023 as radiology’s showcase conference kicked off on Sunday.
“Leading Through Change” is the theme of this year’s meeting, and it’s an appropriate slogan for a specialty that seems on the cusp of disruption with the growing use of AI, deep learning, and other tools.
- AI is being featured prominently in scientific presentations and vendor exhibits in McCormick Place, with a particular focus on whether large language models like ChatGPT can find practical application in radiology. Early research is promising but still inconclusive.
Another major focus at RSNA 2023 has been lung cancer screening, with Sunday afternoon sessions investigating how screening can be expanded:
- Researchers mined a database of 32k women who got screening mammography to find eligible candidates for lung screening, finding 5% who met screening criteria.
- Using the USPTSF’s 2021 guideline revision to find screening candidates led to shorter smoking histories (42 vs. 29 pack-years) and slightly more women being eligible (48% vs. 46%).
- ChatGPT gave more correct answers than Google Bard to non-expert questions on lung screening (71% vs. 52%).
- ChatGPT, GPT-4, and Bard needed multiple iterations to produce reports readable by patients.
AI is also proving its value for selecting screening candidates and identifying lung pathology:
- An AI algorithm analyzed chest X-rays to determine whether an individual would benefit from CT lung cancer screening – even if they don’t smoke. In 17.4k patients, the model classified 28% as high risk, 2.9% of whom were later diagnosed with lung cancer, a higher level than the 1.3% six-year threshold at which guidelines recommend CT lung screening.
- A deep learning algorithm analyzed chest X-rays in a cohort of 10k patients to predict who would develop type 2 diabetes, turning in better accuracy than a model that only looked at clinical factors like age, BMI and HbA1c levels (AUCs: 0.84 vs. 0.79).
Looking for more coverage of RSNA 2023? Be sure to check out our videos from the technical exhibit floor, which you can find on our new Shows page.
The Takeaway
The RSNA has always been known as the Super Bowl of radiology, and this year’s meeting is off to a great start. Be sure to check back on our Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and YouTube pages for more coverage of this week’s events in Chicago.
