Establishment and validation of a ResNet-based radiomics model for predicting prognosis in cervical spinal cord injury patients

Cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) poses a significant challenge due to the unpredictable nature of recovery, which ranges from mild paralysis to severe long-term disability. Accurate prognostic models are crucial for guiding treatment and rehabilitation but are often limited by their reliance on clinical observations alone. Recent advancements in radiomics and deep learning have shown promise in enhancing prognostic accuracy by leveraging detailed imaging data. However, integrating these imaging features with clinical data remains an underexplored area. This study aims to develop a combined model using imaging and clinical signatures to predict the prognosis of cSCI patients six months post-injury, helping clinical decisions and improving rehabilitation plans. We retrospectively analyzed 168 cSCI patients treated at Zhongda Hospital from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023. The retrospective cohort was divided into training (134 patients) and testing sets (34 patients) to construct the model. An additional prospective cohort of 43 cSCI patients treated from July 1, 2023, to November 30, 2023, was used as a validation set. Radiomics features were extracted using Pyradiomics and ResNet deep learning from MR images. Clinical factors such as age, smoking history, drinking history, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, traumatic brain injury, injury site, and treatment type were analyzed. The LASSO algorithm selected features for model building. Multiple machine learning models, including SVM, LR, NaiveBayes, KNN, RF, ExtraTrees, XGBoost, LightGBM, GradientBoosting, AdaBoosting, and MLP, were used. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) assessed the models' performance. A nomogram was created to visualize the combined model. In Radiomics models, the SVM classifier achieved the highest area under the curve (AUC) of 1.000 in the training set and 0.915 in the testing set. Age, diabetes, and treatment were found clinical risk factors to develop a clinical model. The combined model, integrating radiomics and clinical features, showed strong performance with AUCs of 1.000 in the training set, 0.952 in the testing set and 0.815 in the validation set. And calibration curves and DCA confirmed the model's accuracy and clinical usefulness. This study shows the potential of a combined radiomics and clinical model to predict the prognosis of cSCI patients.