Artificial Intelligence to Diagnose Tibial Plateau Fractures: An Intelligent Assistant for Orthopedic Physicians

Curr Med Sci. 2021 Dec;41(6):1158-1164. doi: 10.1007/s11596-021-2501-4. Epub 2021 Dec 31.

Abstract

Objective: To explore a new artificial intelligence (AI)-aided method to assist the clinical diagnosis of tibial plateau fractures (TPFs) and further measure its validity and feasibility.

Methods: A total of 542 X-rays of TPFs were collected as a reference database. An AI algorithm (RetinaNet) was trained to analyze and detect TPF on the X-rays. The ability of the AI algorithm was determined by indexes such as detection accuracy and time taken for analysis. The algorithm performance was also compared with orthopedic physicians.

Results: The AI algorithm showed a detection accuracy of 0.91 for the identification of TPF, which was similar to the performance of orthopedic physicians (0.92±0.03). The average time spent for analysis of the AI was 0.56 s, which was 16 times faster than human performance (8.44±3.26 s).

Conclusion: The AI algorithm is a valid and efficient method for the clinical diagnosis of TPF. It can be a useful assistant for orthopedic physicians, which largely promotes clinical workflow and further guarantees the health and security of patients.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; diagnosis; fracture; tibial plateau.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Algorithms*
  • Artificial Intelligence / statistics & numerical data*
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Orthopedics*
  • Physicians*
  • Tibial Fractures / diagnosis*
  • X-Rays