Authors:
Camilla Scapicchio
1
;
2
;
Elena Ballante
3
;
4
;
Francesca Brero
4
;
Raffaella Fiamma Cabini
5
;
4
;
Andrea Chincarini
6
;
Maria Evelina Fantacci
1
;
2
;
Silvia Figini
3
;
4
;
Alessandro Lascialfari
4
;
Francesca Lizzi
2
;
Ian Postuma
4
and
Alessandra Retico
2
Affiliations:
1
Department of Physics, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
;
2
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Pisa, Italy
;
3
Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
;
4
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Pavia, Italy
;
5
Department of Mathematics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
;
6
National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), Genova, Italy
Keyword(s):
COVID-19, Computed Tomography, Deep Learning, Quantification Software, Structured Report
Abstract:
The role of Computed Tomography (CT) in the characterization of COVID-19 pneumonia has been widely
recognized. The aim of this work is to present the idea of integrating a Deep Learning (DL)-based software,
able to automatically quantify qualitative information typically describing COVID-19 lesions on chest CT
scans, into a structured report-filling pipeline. Different studies have highlighted the value of introducing the
use of structured reports in clinical practice, as a reproducible instrument for diagnosis and follow-up rather
than the commonly used free-text radiological report. Structured data are fundamental to helping clinical de-
cision support systems and fostering precision medicine. We developed a Deep Learning based software that
segments both the lungs and the lesions associated with COVID-19 pneumonia on chest CT scans and quan-
tifies some indexes describing qualitative characteristics used to assess COVID-19 lesions clinically. Once
assessed the robustness of the sy
stem by means of a multicenter clinical evaluation made by clinical experts, it
can be used for the first stratification of patients, supporting radiologists with a computer-aided quantification,
and the derived quantities, immediately intelligible for the clinicians, are suitable to be inserted in a structured
report in COVID-19 pneumonia and then exploited as explainable features to build predictive models.
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