Abstract:
Objective To explore the diagnostic value of artificial intelligence S-Detect technology combined with ultrasound elastography (UE) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast nodules.
Methods A total of 103 breast nodules were subjected to benign-malignant differentiation using S-Detect, UE, and conventional ultrasound (CUS). Postoperative pathology served as the gold standard. The diagnostic efficacy of the three methods was compared, and the diagnostic performance of S-Detect applied to CUS (CUS + S-Detect), UE applied to CUS (CUS + UE), and S-Detect combined with UE applied to CUS (CUS + S-Detect + UE) was analyzed comparatively.
Results There were no statistically significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, or AUC among the three diagnostic methods (CUS, S-Detect, and UE) (P > 0.05). The sensitivities of CUS, CUS + S-Detect, CUS + UE, and CUS + S-Detect + UE were 78.05%, 87.80%, 75.61%, and 92.68%, respectively, while the specificities were 69.35%, 82.26%, 85.48%, and 93.55%, the accuracies were 72.82%, 84.47%, 81.55%, and 93.20%, and the AUCs were 0.737, 0.850, 0.805, and 0.931, respectively. Compared to CUS alone, CUS + S-Detect demonstrated higher accuracy and AUC values, while CUS + UE exhibited higher specificity (P < 0.05). The combined diagnostic accuracy and AUC values of CUS + S-Detect + UE were higher than those of CUS + S-Detect or CUS + UE (P < 0.05).
Conclusions When combined, CUS + S-Detect + UE can achieve complementary advantages and significantly improve the diagnostic efficacy for benign and malignant breast nodules.