BMC Medical Imaging最新文献

{"title":"Speckle-tracking carotid strain ultrasonography for assessment of vascular dysfunction in metabolic syndrome: a cross-sectional study.","authors":"Elif Duygu Topan, Aral Varol, Hilal Bektaş Uysal, İmran Kurt Ömürlü, Mustafa Gök","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02686-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02686-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, which rises with the number of MetS components. Conventional carotid ultrasound markers may not fully characterize dynamic arterial wall mechanics, whereas speckle-tracking carotid strain ultrasonography (STCS-US) enables integrated assessment of carotid stiffness and deformation throughout the cardiac cycle. This study aimed to assess multidimensional carotid mechanics in individuals with MetS and their association with cumulative metabolic burden.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective cross-sectional study included 100 participants:50 patients with MetS diagnosed according to the National Cholesterol Education ProgramAdult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria and 50 age and sex matched controls without MetS Carotid Doppler US images were analyzed using the Arterial Analysis software program, which quantified 22 vascular parameters per participant, comprising five stiffness parameters (β-stiffness index [β-SI], arterial compliance [AC], arterial distensibility [AD], elastic modulus [EM], and pulse wave velocity [PWV]) and six strain parameters (radial strain, radial displacement [DP], radial strain rate [SR], circumferential strain, circumferential displacement, and circumferential strain rate), each obtained in both the longitudinal and transverse planes. Correlations between the number of MetS components and imaging-derived vascular parameters were analyzed. Classification and Regression Trees (CART) analysis was performed to evaluate the relative contribution of clinical and structural variables to STCS-US-derived vascular parameters.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Patients with MetS exhibited significantly increased stiffness parameters, including EM and PWV, and reduced compliance indices compared with controls (all p < 0.05). Strain analysis demonstrated significantly lower radial and circumferential strain percentages in the MetS group, with more pronounced alterations observed in the transverse plane (all p < 0.001). Increasing MetS component count was associated with higher stiffness indices and lower strain values. CART analysis demonstrated that MetS status remained one of the most important determinants across the reported STCS-US-derived vascular parameters.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>STCS-US revealed coordinated impairment in carotid arterial stiffness and strain parameters in MetS, particularly in the transverse plane. These findings suggest that STCS-US may provide complementary functional information alongside conventional stiffness assessment and may reflect the cumulative metabolic burden on vascular mechanics.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13563693/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148954913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anatomy-driven automated subsegmentation of pelvic and proximal femoral CT into clinically relevant subregions and landmarks.","authors":"Mohammed Rashed, Hatem Alabdulrahman, Simon D Westfechtel, Frank Hildebrand, Daniel Truhn","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02753-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02753-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The pelvis is among the most demanding regions in musculoskeletal imaging, and CT is its reference standard. Available automated tools, however, largely produce whole-bone or single-task masks, leaving the finer surgical subregions to slow, operator-dependent manual work. We developed a rule-based pipeline that converts pelvic and proximal femoral masks into a structured map of surgically meaningful subregions and landmarks, quantifying the manual correction burden required to achieve anatomically acceptable outputs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Anonymized pelvic CT scans were collected retrospectively; after predefined quality criteria, 757 of 1,316 screened normal adult cases were processed by a one-click pipeline in 3D Slicer. Parent structures from TotalSegmentator were divided by fixed anatomical rules into columns, acetabular regions, and proximal femoral regions. In 100 randomly selected cases, every segment was expert-reviewed and corrected where needed; correction frequency was the primary endpoint, with accuracy computed for corrected segments only. Pipeline performance was also assessed in a 60-case pathological-anatomy cohort for affected segments against manually segmented ground truth.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 8,100 segment observations, 93.8% were accepted without correction, and 51 of 81 segments required no correction in any case. Correction clustered in a few boundary regions, mainly the ischium and femoral neck (median 4.5 segments per case). Computed only on the corrected segments, the median Dice was 0.94, indicating that errors were modest where they occurred. A secondary symmetry analysis showed median surface agreement of 90% within 2 mm and 99.9% within 5 mm. In the pathological-anatomy cohort, pooled median Dice was 0.970 across affected components. Pooled landmark error was 5.37 mm median, with 91.9% of manual clicks inside the automated landmark.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Validated in normal adult anatomy, this rule-based pipeline converts pelvic and proximal femoral CT into a structured hierarchy of clinically relevant subregions, needing only limited, predictable correction. It substantially reduces manual workload while preserving the anatomical detail needed for morphometry and dataset generation. Performance held up in an initial pathological-anatomy sample. Extension to fracture, deformity, or clinical decision-making requires dedicated validation in abnormal anatomy.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13584298/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148982144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CT-based radiomics combined with clinical features for non-invasive differentiation of hepatitis B and schistosomiasis cirrhosis: a multicenter study.","authors":"Junjie Tong, Xiaojun Xu, Fan Hu, Zhengquan Wang, Ling Ma, Jieming Li, Xin Li, Zhong Yang, Xiaotian Xia","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02693-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02693-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Accurate etiological differentiation between hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis and schistosomiasis-related cirrhosis remains clinically important in endemic regions because these conditions differ substantially in their underlying pathogenesis, clinical management, and prognosis. A non-invasive imaging approach may provide complementary information for etiological assessment. To develop a CT-based clinical-radiomics model for the non-invasive differentiation of HBV-related and schistosomiasis-related cirrhosis and to evaluate its diagnostic performance in a multicenter cohort.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective multicenter study included 143 patients with HBV-related or schistosomiasis-related cirrhosis from three institutions between August 2019 and December 2021. Radiomics features were extracted from non-contrast CT images, and a radiomics signature (Rad-score) was established using minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. Clinical and integrated clinical-radiomics models were subsequently developed using multivariable logistic regression. Model performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic analysis, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The Rad-score was significantly lower in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis than in those with schistosomiasis-related cirrhosis (both P < 0.001 in the training and internal validation cohorts). The integrated clinical-radiomics model demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance, with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values of 0.990 in the training cohort, 0.920 in the internal validation cohort, and 0.782 in the external validation cohort. Compared with the clinical model alone, both the radiomics and integrated models demonstrated more consistent performance across the internal and external validation cohorts, while the integrated model showed the greatest overall clinical utility on DCA.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The proposed CT-based clinical-radiomics model provides a promising non-invasive approach for differentiating HBV-related and schistosomiasis-related cirrhosis. As a complementary imaging tool, it may assist etiological assessment in endemic regions when interpreted alongside routine clinical and laboratory evaluation. Further prospective multicenter studies are warranted to validate its clinical utility.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13711848/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149262416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prognostic significance of baseline ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT metabolic quantitative parameters for ampullary adenocarcinoma patients.","authors":"Qiong Zou, Min-Hong Zou, Jun-Yu Xu, Guang-Feng Chen, Si-Qi Hu, Yong Zhang, Ju Jiao","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02717-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02717-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Preoperative prognosis prediction is of significance for ampullary cancer patients. The prognostic factors of ampullary adenocarcinoma have been rarely studied, particularly the PET/CT metabolic parameters. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of quantitative metabolic parameters on baseline ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT scans in patients with ampullary adenocarcinoma.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The clinical characteristics, histopathological features, and quantitative PET/CT parameters of ampullary adenocarcinoma patients were analyzed. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to identify independent predictors for tumor progression or patient survival. Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier curves, and survival differences were compared using the log-rank test.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This retrospective study enrolled fifty-two ampullary adenocarcinoma patients (28 men, 24 women) with a median age of 64 years. The 1-year, 2-year, and 5-year PFS were 69.2%, 61.5%, and 59.6%, while OS were 90.4%, 78.8%, and 76.9%, respectively. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that the PET/CT volumetric parameter total lesion glycolysis (TLG) [hazard ratio (HR): 9.306, p < 0.001] and histologic differentiation grade (HR:3.477, p = 0.007) of the primary tumor lesion were predictive factors for PFS. Besides, TLG (HR:9.033, p = 0.046) and tumor size (HR:6.977, p = 0.018) were significant variables for predicting the OS.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The present study demonstrated that the PET volumetric parameter TLG of the primary tumor lesion emerged as a potential prognostic biomarker for PFS (together with histologic differentiation) and for overall survival (together with tumor size) of patients with ampullary adenocarcinoma.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13563851/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148954973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relative colon wall attenuation - distinguishing ischemia from other colon wall changes.","authors":"Jonas Oppenheimer, Sophia Lüken, Christian Schineis, Elena Sonnenberg, Hans Tepe, Ingo Steffen, Thomas Elgeti, Lars-Arne Schaafs","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02713-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02713-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Differentiation of bowel wall changes between ischemia and other causes in CT imaging can prove challenging, particularly in colon wall. Therefore, measurement of relative colon wall attenuation and contrast uptake were evaluated for aiding in diagnosis of colon ischemia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>CTs with inquiry for bowel ischemia were retrospectively identified. Cases involving colon ischemia or colon wall changes of other etiologies were included. Three regions of interest (ROIs) were placed in representative areas of colon wall with and without evident changes, in arterial and venous phase images, respectively. Means of the ROIs were used to calculate the relative bowel enhancement between affected and unaffected wall in each contrast phase, as well as the contrast uptake of the wall between phases. Relative enhancement and contrast uptake were compared between patients with and without ischemia. A subset of cases was reanalyzed for intra- and inter-reader comparison.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>31 patients with and 56 patients without ischemia were included. Relative enhancement of affected to unaffected colon wall was  -51.2% in arterial phase and  -44.6% in venous phase images for patients with ischemia. Relative enhancement was significantly higher in patients without ischemia at -0.5% in both phases (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in contrast uptake of affected bowel (40.6% vs. 39.8% respectively, p = 0.67). ROC curves revealed a maximum Youden-Index at a cut-off of -37.4% (AUC: 0.818) in arterial phase to differentiate between groups. Intra-reader comparison showed a good, and inter-reader a moderate, correlation in a subset.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Objective measurement of relative colon wall attenuation between affected and unaffected areas can be an additional imaging feature to aid in identifying ischemic colon.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13499334/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148787871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of risk factors in persistent subsolid pulmonary nodules based on CT dynamic follow-up.","authors":"Fei Li, Jinlong Liu, Xiangyang Ren, Zihao Chen, Shenyu Yang, Yuanbo Ma, Yaman Li, Yufang Du, Xiaopeng Yang","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02694-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-026-02694-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study was designed to employ CT-based dynamic follow-up and semi-automated segmentation to investigate the growth rate of SSNs and identify risk factors for their progression.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively analyzed 665 SSN patients from the NLST and 176 from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Semi-automated segmentation software measured the mean diameter, volume, and overall mean CT attenuation (m-CTA) of all nodules. Nodule mass, diameter, volume, and mass doubling time were further calculated. Based on follow-up results, nodules were divided into cancer and non-cancer groups to compare growth rates and identify the optimal method for detecting malignancy-related growth. All SSNs were further divided into growth and non-growth groups based on selected measurements for comparison of clinical and radiological features. Independent predictors of SSN growth were evaluated through Kaplan-Meier analysis and Multivariate Cox regression modeling.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In both datasets, significant differences (p < 0.05) were identified in all quantitative parameters including diameter, volume and mass between the cancer and non-cancer groups. Volume and its doubling time demonstrated the smallest P-values (p < 0.001), indicating that volumetric assessment provides the most sensitive measurement for detecting tumor growth. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that age, pleural indentation, and initial m-CTA were independent risk factors for the growth of SSNs in both datasets (all p < 0.05), while nodule type was significantly associated with growth only in the NLST dataset (p < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Advanced age, pleural indentation sign, and a higher initial m-CTA attenuation are independent risk factors for the growth of SSNs.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13495464/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148787913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Toward accessible quantification of bone mineral density: feasibility of radiographic bone aluminum equivalence (RBAE) determined by digital radiography against DEXA and CT in translational sheep model.","authors":"Muhammad M Kamal, Ahmed I Abdelgalil, Elham A Hassan","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02675-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-026-02675-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The study aimed to explore an accessible quantification of bone mineral density (BMD) through Radiographic Bone Aluminium Equivalence (RBAE) as determined by Digital Radiography (DR), compared to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and computed tomography (CT) in ex vivo animal model.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Metacarpal and metatarsal bones (n = 24) from skeletally mature sheep were imaged using standard DR, DEXA, and CT protocols. DR-derived BMD values were calculated from calibrated greyscale intensities using an aluminum step-wedge and image-analysis workflow. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between the different modalities, whereas the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman analyses were used to assess agreement between the measurement methods.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>DR-derived BMD as expressed as BRAE demonstrated strong linear correlation with DEXA (r = 0.779, p = 0.001) and moderate linear correlation with CT (r = 0.536, p = 0.04). Across all imaging modalities, metatarsal bones exhibited significantly higher BMD than metacarpal bones, with clear bilateral symmetry observed within each bone type. The consistency of results across modalities strengthens the validity of the findings and supports the reliability of each technique for detecting biologically meaningful differences in BMD. The agreement between DEXA, CT and digital radiography underscores the feasibility of using radiographic BMD to quantify BMD.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Digital radiography, supported by standardized calibration and analysis, yields a reproducible BMD estimates that align closely with DEXA and CT measurements. These findings highlight DR as a cost-effective and accessible option for BMD assessment, while providing valuable baseline insight into normal mineral distribution. This information supports future research on pathological bone loss, imaging validation, and therapeutic strategies to improve bone quality.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13495147/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148787884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI-based multimodal fusion for preoperative prediction of breast microcalcifications: combining mammography and tomosynthesis.","authors":"Junting Wei, Jie Li, Ruixin Pan, Mingna Cao, Chengcheng Ma, Zongyu Xie, Yichuan Ma, Zhizhen Gao","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02673-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02673-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study aimed to develop artificial intelligence (AI) models based on mammography (MG) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) for non-invasive preoperative differentiation of benign and malignant breast microcalcifications.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively analyzed 190 patients with pathologically confirmed breast microcalcifications, who were divided into training and test sets at a ratio of 7:3. Radiomics features and deep learning scores extracted using ResNet-50 were derived from MG and DBT images. After feature selection procedures, single-modality models and an integrated model (MD model) were constructed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The area under the curves (AUCs) of the BI-RADS model, DBT model, MG model, and MD model in the training set were 0.805, 0.879, 0.896, and 0.939. In the test set, the corresponding AUCs were 0.809, 0.768, 0.793, and 0.835, respectively. The MD model demonstrated significantly better diagnostic performance compared with the other models (DeLong test, P < 0.05). SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis revealed that the deep learning scores (DL scores) from the MG craniocaudal (CC) view and radiomics features reflecting textural complexity and spatial heterogeneity were the most influential features in model prediction.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The MD model integrating radiomics and deep learning scores from MG and DBT improved the diagnostic accuracy for differentiating benign and malignant breast microcalcifications, outperforming traditional methods. It provided a valuable non-invasive preoperative tool with the potential to optimize clinical decision-making and reduce unnecessary invasive procedures.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13501696/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148811937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Morphometric characteristics of the prefemoral fat pad of the knee on MRI: a study in a healthy population.","authors":"Christoph Hellmund, Pierre Hepp, Hanno Steinke, Leon Weigelt, Timm Denecke, Jeanette Henkelmann","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02663-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02663-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The prefemoral fat pad (PFP) is located anterior to the distal femur and adjacent to the patellofemoral joint. While the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) has been extensively studied, morphometric data on the PFP are scarce. The purpose of this study was to characterize the morphology of the PFP on MRI and to evaluate its relationship to adjacent osseous and soft tissue structures.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Twenty healthy volunteers were prospectively enrolled, and MRI examinations of 38 knees from 19 participants were analysed. Volumes of the PFP, IFP, and suprapatellar fat pad (SFP) were measured using manual segmentation. Additional morphometric parameters included body height, weight, BMI, age, numerous femoral and tibial osseous dimensions, the Insall-Salvati ratio, and the suprapatellar axial PFP area (SAPA). Correlation and regression analyses were performed to identify predictors and surrogate measures of PFP volume.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Mean PFP and IFP volume were comparable. PFP volume showed significant correlations with selected osseous parameters of the distal femur and proximal tibia. IFP volume and SAPA demonstrated a strong correlation with PFP volume and emerged as surrogate parameters. No significant relationship was found between PFP volume and patellar height as assessed by the Insall-Salvati ratio.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In healthy adults, the PFP is similar in size to the IFP and shows consistent morphometric relationships with adjacent structures. SAPA may represent a simplified, time-efficient candidate surrogate measure that showed a strong association with total PFP volume in this healthy cohort; further validation in larger and symptomatic populations is required before it can substitute for complete volumetric segmentation in clinical practice. These findings provide baseline morphometric data for future studies investigating pathological alterations of the PFP.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13471311/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148720073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimal timing of post-therapeutic [¹³¹I]NaI whole-body scintigraphy in predominantly low- and intermediate-risk differentiated thyroid cancer: a secondary analysis of prospectively acquired data and a structured literature review.","authors":"Andreas Pfestroff, Hannah Wolfram, Kathrin Pfestroff, Wadim Bowl, Ali Ebrahimifard, Shamim Bagheri, Pietro di Fazio, Behrooz H Yousefi, Elisabeth Maurer, Katharina Holzer, Glenn Flux, Jan Taprogge, Markus Luster, Friederike Eilsberger","doi":"10.1186/s12880-026-02647-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12880-026-02647-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Post-therapeutic [¹³¹I]NaI whole-body scintigraphy (ptWBS) is mandatory after radioiodine therapy (RAIT), but the most suitable acquisition time remains uncertain. We compared image interpretability at early and delayed time points in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective secondary analysis included prospectively acquired ptWBS data from 35 patients. Scans obtained at 6, 24, 48, 72, and 168 h after RAIT were independently ranked by three nuclear medicine physicians and evaluated with a 10-item criteria-based image-quality score. Rankings were analyzed using a Plackett-Luce model, and criteria-based scores were analyzed using generalized estimating equations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The analysis comprised 167 scans, 501 criteria-based ratings, and 500 intuitive rank observations. The 24-h acquisition had the highest estimated preference, followed by 48, 6, 72, and 168 h. After Holm adjustment, 24 h was favored over 6, 72, and 168 h, whereas the difference between 24 and 48 h was not significant (P = 0.091). The criteria-based score was highest at 24 h (39.52; 95% CI, 38.62-40.43) and next-highest at 48 h (34.79); all pairwise differences in scores were significant. Each 5-point increase in the criteria-based score was associated with higher odds of a more favorable intuitive ranking (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.70-2.38).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>PtWBS acquired at 24 h provided the best overall interpretability of the images. A 48 h scan may be considered when practical or radiation-protection considerations favor later imaging, but equivalence to 24 h has not been established. Additional delayed imaging may still be useful when distant metastatic disease is suspected.</p>","PeriodicalId":9020,"journal":{"name":"BMC Medical Imaging","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13455259/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148700775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}