Development and Validation of a Deep Learning Model for Brain Tumor Diagnosis and Classification Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Importance

Deep learning may be able to use patient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to aid in brain tumor classification and diagnosis.

Objective

To develop and clinically validate a deep learning system for automated identification and classification of 18 types of brain tumors from patient MRI data.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This diagnostic study was conducted using MRI data collected between 2000 and 2019 from 37 871 patients. A deep learning system for segmentation and classification of 18 types of intracranial tumors based on T1- and T2-weighted images and T2 contrast MRI sequences was developed and tested. The diagnostic accuracy of the system was tested using 1 internal and 3 external independent data sets. The clinical value of the system was assessed by comparing the tumor diagnostic accuracy of neuroradiologists with vs without assistance of the proposed system using a separate internal test data set. Data were analyzed from March 2019 through February 2020.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Changes in neuroradiologist clinical diagnostic accuracy in brain MRI scans with vs without the deep learning system were evaluated.

Results

A deep learning system was trained among 37 871 patients (mean [SD] age, 41.6 [11.4] years; 18 519 women [48.9%]). It achieved a mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.84-0.99) on 1339 patients from 4 centers’ data sets in diagnosis and classification of 18 types of tumors. Higher outcomes were found compared with neuroradiologists for accuracy and sensitivity and similar outcomes for specificity (for 300 patients in the Tiantan Hospital test data set: accuracy, 73.3% [95% CI, 67.7%-77.7%] vs 60.9% [95% CI, 46.8%-75.1%]; sensitivity, 88.9% [95% CI, 85.3%-92.4%] vs 53.4% [95% CI, 41.8%–64.9%]; and specificity, 96.3% [95% CI, 94.2%-98.4%] vs 97.9%; [95% CI, 97.3%-98.5%]). With the assistance of the deep learning system, the mean accuracy of neuroradiologists among 1166 patients increased by 12.0 percentage points, from 63.5% (95% CI, 60.7%-66.2%) without assistance to 75.5% (95% CI, 73.0%-77.9%) with assistance.

Conclusions and Relevance

These findings suggest that deep learning system–based automated diagnosis may be associated with improved classification and diagnosis of intracranial tumors from MRI data among neuroradiologists.