Cervical Rib Detection on X-Ray
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Clinical Implementation
Value Proposition
Cervical rib, which is a congenital anomaly, is an accessory rib that grows above the first rib from C7 and can be on the right, left, or both sides. Occurring in less than 1% of the population, a cervical rib can vary in size and shape and is often an incidental finding without symptoms. However, in some cases (up to 10% of the affected individuals), cervical ribs can cause problems, such as thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) or brachial plexopathy by compressing the brachial plexus or the subclavian vessels. While individuals with a cervical rib are ten times more likely to develop TOS, this variant is commonly overlooked in medical imaging [Viertel et al., AJNR 2012].
Narrative(s)
A 30-year-old female presents with numbness and tingling of her right upper extremity. An x-ray of the cervical spine is performed. The patient is found to have a right-sided cervical rib, causing TOS. Radiologists can easily miss a cervical rib (or ribs, if bilateral) and would benefit from an algorithm that can detect and alert the radiologists as this congenital variant has been known to cause TOS.
Workflow Description
Images obtained from the radiograph sent to the PACS/viewer and the AI model. The AI model analyzes the images. The model identifies the presence of a cervical rib or cervical ribs. A message is sent to both the PACS/viewer and the reporting solution from the model with this information.
Considerations for Dataset Development
| Procedures(s) | {Cervical spine x-ray, Shoulder x-ray, Chest x-ray} |
| View(s) | {Frontal} |
| Sex at Birth | {Male, Female} |
| Age | [18, 60] |
Technical Specifications
Inputs
DICOM Study
| Procedure | Cervical spine x-ray, shoulder x-ray, chest x-ray |
| Views | Frontal |
| Data Type | DICOM |
| Modality | X-ray |
| Body Region | Cervical Spine |
| Anatomic Focus | Cervical Spine |
Primary Outputs
Cervical Rib Detection
| RadElement ID | RDE950 |
| Definition | Cervical rib |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set |
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| Units | N/A |
Cervical Rib Laterality
| RadElement ID | RDE951 |
| Definition | Cervical rib location |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set |
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| Units | N/A |
Future Development Ideas
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Include sagittal images for the cross-sectional imaging for the detection of cervical rib.
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Give more quantitative information about the cervical rib, such as its size or volume as well as whether it is a fully-formed bony rib or a fiber/strand.
Related Datasets
No known related public datasets at this time, please alert us if you know of any.