Paul Pinsky

PhD

NCI

Principal Investigator

NLST (Learn more about this study)

201111-0040

Nov 29, 2011

Creating a resource for CAD development: Linking nodules to cancers.

Currently, the only lung CT CAD applications approved/cleared by FDA involve nodule identification; there are no approved/cleared CADs for predicting which nodules are cancerous. In addition, there are few if any CT libraries in the U.S. that document linkages between nodules and subsequent diagnosed cancers. In order to develop and validate a CAD for predicting the cancerous status of nodules, there must be a CT library resource that has linked nodule-tumor information, i.e., that links the tumors to a specific nodule (if any) and gives the 3D coordinates of that nodule. In this way, every potential mark given by a CAD system can be evaluated as to whether it corresponds to the cancerous nodule or not, by examining the coordinates of the mark relative to that of the nodule determined to be cancerous.
The linked nodule-tumor information could then become part of the database, along with the images and clinical information. In this way, there would be a standardized linkage, which would be advantageous in two respects. Firstly, it would eliminate the need for each CAD developer who wanted to use the NLST images for development/validation to independently create such a linkage. Second, it would insure that such a linkage was developed in the most rigorous way possible.