Detecting total hip arthroplasty dislocations using deep learning: clinical and Internet validation

Emerg Radiol. 2022 Oct;29(5):801-808. doi: 10.1007/s10140-022-02060-2. Epub 2022 May 24.

Abstract

Objective: Periprosthetic dislocations of total hip arthroplasty (THA) are time-sensitive injuries, as the longer diagnosis and treatment are delayed, the more difficult they are to reduce. Automated triage of radiographs with dislocations could help reduce these delays. We trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for the detection of THA dislocations, and evaluated their generalizability by evaluating them on external datasets.

Methods: We used 357 THA radiographs from a single hospital (185 with dislocation [51.8%]) to develop and internally test a variety of CNNs to identify THA dislocation. We performed external testing of these CNNs on two datasets to evaluate generalizability. CNN performance was evaluated using area under the receiving operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Class activation mapping (CAM) was used to create heatmaps of test images for visualization of regions emphasized by the CNNs.

Results: Multiple CNNs achieved AUCs of 1 for both internal and external test sets, indicating good generalizability. Heatmaps showed that CNNs consistently emphasized the THA for both dislocated and located THAs.

Conclusion: CNNs can be trained to recognize THA dislocation with high diagnostic performance, which supports their potential use for triage in the emergency department. Importantly, our CNNs generalized well to external data from two sources, further supporting their potential clinical utility.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Deep learning; Periprosthetic dislocation; Total hip arthroplasty.

MeSH terms

  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip*
  • Deep Learning*
  • Humans
  • Internet
  • Joint Dislocations*
  • Neural Networks, Computer
  • Retrospective Studies