Magnetic Resonance Imaging Texture Analysis for Evaluating Radiation Induced Femoral Head Changes in Rectal Cancer after Radiotherapy

Motivation: To promote a non-invasive method to evaluate the radiation induced femoral head changes. Goal(s): To investigate the value of MRI texture analysis for evaluating radiation induced femoral head changes in rectal cancer patients after radiotherapy. Approach: The texture parameters of T1WI, T2WI and DWI images were extracted in femoral head. And the differences of texture parameters before and after radiotherapy were compared. Results: We found that when combined the texture parameters of T1WI, T2WI and DWI images, the diagnostic efficiency of femoral head changes was optimal with AUC of 0.85 (sensitivity,0.81; specificity,0.80). Impact: MRI texture analysis may provide a non-invasive method to evaluate the radiation induced femoral head changes, providing imaging clues for monitoring the potential radiation-induced femoral head injury.