Ultrasomics Differentiation of Malignant and Benign Focal Liver Lesions Based on Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound

To establish a nomogram for differentiating malignant and benign focal liver lesions (FLLs) using ultrasomics features derived from contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). 527 patients were retrospectively enrolled. On the training cohort, ultrasomics features were extracted from CEUS and b-mode ultrasound (BUS). Automatic feature selection and model development were performed using the Ultrasomics-Platform software, outputting the corresponding ultrasomics scores. A nomogram based on the ultrasomics scores from artery phase (AP), portal venous phase (PVP) and delayed phase (DP) of CEUS, and clinical factors were established. On the validation cohort, the diagnostic performance of the nomogram was assessed and compared with seniorexpert and resident radiologists. In the training cohort, the AP, PVP and DP scores exhibited better differential performance than BUS score, with area under the curve (AUC) of 84.1-85.1