Artificial intelligence in thyroid eye disease imaging: A systematic review.

Abstract

Thyroid eye disease (TED) is a common, complex orbital disorder characterized by soft-tissue changes visible on imaging. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers promises for improving TED diagnosis and treatment; however, no systematic review has yet characterized the research landscape, key challenges, and future directions. We followed PRISMA guidelines to search multiple databases until January, 2025, for studies applying AI to computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and nuclear, facial or retinal imaging in TED patients. Using the APPRAISE-AI tool, we assessed study quality and included 41 studies covering various AI applications. Sample sizes ranged from 33 to 2,288 participants, predominantly East Asian. CT and facial imaging were the most common modalities, reported in 16 and 13 articles, respectively. Studies addressed clinical tasks-diagnosis, activity assessment, severity grading, and treatment prediction-and technical tasks-classification, segmentation, and image generation-with classification being the most frequent. Researchers primarily employed deep-learning models, such as residual network (ResNet) and Visual Geometry Group (VGG). Overall, the majority of the studies were of moderate quality. Image-based AI shows strong potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and guide personalized treatment strategies in TED. Future research should prioritize robust study designs, the creation of public datasets, multimodal imaging integration, and interdisciplinary collaboration to accelerate clinical translation.