Predicting acetabular version in native hip joints through plain x-ray radiographs: a comparative analysis of convolutional neural network model and the current gold standard, with insights and implications for hip arthroplasty

Introduction: This study presents the development and validation of a Deep Learning Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model for estimating acetabular version (AV) from native hip plain radiographs.

Methods: Utilizing a dataset comprising 300 participants with unrelated pelvic complaints, the CNN model was trained and evaluated against CT-Scans, considered the gold standard, using a 5-fold cross-validation.

Results: Notably, the CNN model exhibited a robust performance, demonstrating a strong Pearson correlation with CT-Scans (right hip: r = 0.70, p < 0.001; left hip: r = 0.71, p < 0.001) and achieving a mean absolute error of 2.95°. Remarkably, over 83% of predictions yielded errors ≤5°, highlighting the model's high precision in AV estimation.

Discussion: The model holds promise in preoperative planning for hip arthroplasty, potentially reducing complications like recurrent dislocation and component wear. Future directions include further refinement of the CNN model, with ongoing investigations aimed at enhancing preoperative planning potential and ensuring comprehensive assessment across diverse patient populations, particularly in diseased cases. Additionally, future research could explore the model's potential value in scenarios necessitating minimized ionizing radiation exposure, such as post-operative evaluations.