Overview of Artificial Intelligence in Breast Cancer Medical Imaging

Abstract

The heavy global burden and mortality of breast cancer emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. Imaging detection is one of the main tools used in clinical practice for screening, diagnosis, and treatment efficacy evaluation, and can visualize changes in tumor size and texture before and after treatment. The overwhelming number of images, which lead to a heavy workload for radiologists and a sluggish reporting period, suggests the need for computer-aid detection techniques and platform. In addition, complex and changeable image features, heterogeneous quality of images, and inconsistent interpretation by different radiologists and medical institutions constitute the primary difficulties in breast cancer screening and imaging diagnosis. The advancement of imaging-based artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted tumor diagnosis is an ideal strategy for improving imaging diagnosis efficient and accuracy. By learning from image data input and constructing algorithm models, AI is able to recognize, segment, and diagnose tumor lesion automatically, showing promising application prospects. Furthermore, the rapid advancement of “omics” promotes a deeper and more comprehensive recognition of the nature of cancer. The fascinating relationship between tumor image and molecular characteristics has attracted attention to the radiomic and radiogenomics, which allow us to perform analysis and detection on the molecular level with no need for invasive operations. In this review, we integrate the current developments in AI-assisted imaging diagnosis and discuss the advances of AI-based breast cancer precise diagnosis from a clinical point of view. Although AI-assisted imaging breast cancer screening and detection is an emerging field and draws much attention, the clinical application of AI in tumor lesion recognition, segmentation, and diagnosis is still limited to research or in limited patients’ cohort. Randomized clinical trials based on large and high-quality cohort are lacking. This review aims to describe the progress of the imaging-based AI application in breast cancer screening and diagnosis for clinicians.

Revolutionising Breast Surgery: A Comprehensive Review of Robotic Innovations in Breast Surgery and Reconstruction

“…This section underscores how AI assists in the automated detection and classification of breast tumours, contributing to improved diagnostic accuracy and reduced false positives. By efficiently processing and analysing vast quantities of medical images, AI empowers radiologists and clinicians to make more precise and timely decisions, enhancing patient outcomes and minimising unnecessary interventions [ 57 ].…”

Review on Deep Learning-Based CAD Systems for Breast Cancer Diagnosis

“…The limitations of AI-based diagnosis are (1) Lack of generalization in the methodologies used in AI to produce reproducible results; (2) Algorithms with reduced false positive rates and high specificity are essential to deal with image data obtained from different modalities and patient independent variations; and (3) The applicability of AI in diagnosis is to be validated in real-time through clinical trials on a large sample size before adopting to the clinical practice. 41 DL systems based on breast US images have improved diagnostic accuracy, minimized interpretation time, and reduced the number of call-backs and biopsies. The performance of AI CAD is better when compared to radiologists with less experience.…”

“…The limitations of AI-based diagnosis are (1) Lack of generalization in the methodologies used in AI to produce reproducible results; (2) Algorithms with reduced false positive rates and high specificity are essential to deal with image data obtained from different modalities and patient independent variations; and (3) The applicability of AI in diagnosis is to be validated in real-time through clinical trials on a large sample size before adopting to the clinical practice. 41…”

Revolutionizing Breast Healthcare: Harnessing the Role of Artificial Intelligence

“…Concerns about the influence on the workforce, ethics, legislation, and standardization are common, as are implementation costs and problems with data standards. We must acknowledge and tackle these constraints to integrate AI responsibly in the treatment of breast cancer [ 31 , 32 ].…”