3rd Edition: AI/ML-Based Medical Image Processing and Analysis

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 282

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Computing Science, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC V2C 0C8, Canada
Interests: machine learning; artificial intelligence; image processing; Internet of Things (IoT); robotics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Software Engineering and Information Technology Management, University of Minnesota Crookston, Crookston, MN 56716, USA
Interests: machine learning; artificial intelligence; image processing; Internet of things (IoT)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in medical image processing and analysis is becoming increasingly important due to advances in image processing and analysis technology for the automated recommendation of medical diagnoses. Medical professionals and institutions could benefit from machine learning (ML)- and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical devices, as they could ease the workload of professional medical personnel, increase the accuracy of diagnoses, and enable early diagnosis and intervention. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved many AI/ML-enabled medical devices, which are listed at https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/software-medical-device-samd/artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-aiml-enabled-medical-devices. Researchers are encouraged to continue conducting studies in this field and establishing patentable methods and devices for use in medical institutions.

The International Conference on Advancement in Healthcare Technology and Biomedical Engineering (AHTBE 25) will be held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on August 28–30, 2025. The conference aims to connect leading experts to discuss the latest innovations, challenges, and future directions in healthcare technology and biomedical engineering. The conference will provide a platform for the dissemination of cutting-edge research, fostering collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from around the globe.

More information can be found on the conference website: https://ahtbe.ca/.

Dr. Ghazanfar Latif
Dr. Jaafar Alghazo
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • machine learning
  • artificial intelligence
  • medical imaging
  • medical diagnosis
  • medical
  • magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  • CT scan
  • X-ray
  • computer tomography
  • imaging techniques
  • medical conditions
  • convolutional neural networks
  • deep learning
  • transfer learning

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 1989 KiB  
Article
Deep Reinforcement Learning for CT-Based Non-Invasive Prediction of SOX9 Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
by Minghui Liu, Yi Wei, Tianshu Xie, Meiyi Yang, Xuan Cheng, Lifeng Xu, Qian Li, Feng Che, Qing Xu, Bin Song and Ming Liu
Diagnostics 2025, 15(10), 1255; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15101255 - 15 May 2025
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Abstract
Background: The transcription factor SOX9 plays a critical role in various diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and has been implicated in resistance to sorafenib treatment. Accurate assessment of SOX9 expression is important for guiding personalized therapy in HCC patients; however, a reliable non-invasive [...] Read more.
Background: The transcription factor SOX9 plays a critical role in various diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and has been implicated in resistance to sorafenib treatment. Accurate assessment of SOX9 expression is important for guiding personalized therapy in HCC patients; however, a reliable non-invasive method for evaluating SOX9 status remains lacking. This study aims to develop a deep learning (DL) model capable of preoperatively and non-invasively predicting SOX9 expression from CT images in HCC patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a dataset comprising 4011 CT images from 101 HCC patients who underwent surgical resection followed by sorafenib therapy at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. A deep reinforcement learning (DRL) approach was proposed to enhance prediction accuracy by identifying and focusing on image regions highly correlated with SOX9 expression, thereby reducing the impact of background noise. Results: Our DRL-based model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 91.00% (95% confidence interval: 88.64–93.15%), outperforming conventional DL methods by over 10%. Furthermore, survival analysis revealed that patients with SOX9-positive tumors had significantly shorter recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) compared to SOX9-negative patients, highlighting the prognostic value of SOX9 status. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a DRL-enhanced DL model can accurately and non-invasively predict SOX9 expression in HCC patients using preoperative CT images. These findings support the clinical utility of imaging-based SOX9 assessment in informing treatment strategies and prognostic evaluation for patients with advanced HCC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3rd Edition: AI/ML-Based Medical Image Processing and Analysis)
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