Evaluation of magnetic resonance imaging and deep learning-based synthetic computed tomography for calcified intradural tumors – importance of domain-specific training and validation of synthetic imaging methods for clinical application

BoneMRI generated synthetic CT is a promising, radiation-free alternative to conventional CT. Intradural tumors - even those with dense calcifications - were not visualized by synthetic CT images, highlighting that this novel technology is currently not able to capture lesions outside its main scope. Our analysis demonstrates powerfully that synthetic imaging must be cautiously applied to populations for which it was developed and validated, and that any extrapolation can be clinically misleading.