Predicting amyloid positivity in patients with mild cognitive impairment using a radiomics approach

Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 26;11(1):6954. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-86114-4.

Abstract

Predicting amyloid positivity in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is crucial. In the present study, we predicted amyloid positivity with structural MRI using a radiomics approach. From MR images (including T1, T2 FLAIR, and DTI sequences) of 440 MCI patients, we extracted radiomics features composed of histogram and texture features. These features were used alone or in combination with baseline non-imaging predictors such as age, sex, and ApoE genotype to predict amyloid positivity. We used a regularized regression method for feature selection and prediction. The performance of the baseline non-imaging model was at a fair level (AUC = 0.71). Among single MR-sequence models, T1 and T2 FLAIR radiomics models also showed fair performances (AUC for test = 0.71-0.74, AUC for validation = 0.68-0.70) in predicting amyloid positivity. When T1 and T2 FLAIR radiomics features were combined, the AUC for test was 0.75 and AUC for validation was 0.72 (p vs. baseline model < 0.001). The model performed best when baseline features were combined with a T1 and T2 FLAIR radiomics model (AUC for test = 0.79, AUC for validation = 0.76), which was significantly better than those of the baseline model (p < 0.001) and the T1 + T2 FLAIR radiomics model (p < 0.001). In conclusion, radiomics features showed predictive value for amyloid positivity. It can be used in combination with other predictive features and possibly improve the prediction performance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnostic imaging*
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / analysis*
  • Apolipoproteins E / metabolism
  • Biomarkers / analysis
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnosis
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / pathology*
  • Computational Biology
  • Early Diagnosis
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • ApoE protein, human
  • Apolipoproteins E
  • Biomarkers