Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40275674›Full record

ArticleJournal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle2025

Myo-Guide: A Machine Learning-Based Web Application for Neuromuscular Disease Diagnosis With MRI.

Jose Verdu-Diaz, Carla Bolano-Díaz, Alejandro Gonzalez-Chamorro, Sam Fitzsimmons, Jodi Warman-Chardon, Goknur Selen Kocak, Debora Mucida-Alvim, Ian C Smith, John Vissing, Nanna Scharff Poulsen and 49 more

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Article in Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

59 authors.

Jose Verdu-DiazJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5631-0030
Carla Bolano-DíazJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Alejandro Gonzalez-ChamorroJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Sam FitzsimmonsJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Jodi Warman-ChardonDepartment of Medicine (Neurology), The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada.
Goknur Selen KocakJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Debora Mucida-AlvimJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Ian C SmithOttawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
John VissingCopenhagen Neuromuscular Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Nanna Scharff PoulsenCopenhagen Neuromuscular Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sushan LuoDepartment of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Cristina Domínguez-GonzálezNeuromuscular Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
Laura Bermejo-GuerreroNeuromuscular Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
David Gomez-AndresHospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
Javier SotocaNeuromuscular Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
Anna PichiecchioDepartment of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Silvia NicolosiUniversity of Pavia; Mondino IRCCS Foundation, Pavia, Italy.
Mauro MonforteUOC di Neurologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Claudia BrognaFondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Rome, Italy.
Eugenio MercuriPediatric Neurology, Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Child Health Area, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Jorge Alfredo BevilacquaHospital Clínico Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
Jorge Díaz-JaraHospital Clínico Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
Benjamín Pizarro-GalleguillosPrograma de Doctorado en Ciencias Médicas y Especialidad, Escuela de Postgrado Facultad de Medicina Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Peter KrkoskaUniversity Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
Jorge Alonso-PérezNeuromuscular Disease Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Tenerife, Spain.
Montse OlivéNeuromuscular Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.
Erik H NiksDepartment of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Hermien E KanC.J. Gorter MRI Center, Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
James LillekerNorthern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.
Mark RobertsNorthern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.
Bianca BuchignaniDepartment of Translational Research and of New Surgical and Medical Technologies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Jinhong ShinDepartment of Neurology, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Republic of Korea.
Florence EsselinCentre de Référence des Maladies du Motoneurone, Department of Neurology, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France.
Emmanuelle Le BarsDepartment of Neuroradiology, I2FH Platform, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France.
Anne Marie ChildsLeeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK.
Edoardo MalfattiParis Est University, APHP Henri-Mondor University Hospital, Créteil, France.
Anna SarkozyDubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health & Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK.
Luke PerryDubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health & Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK.
Sniya SudhakarDepartment of Neuroradiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Edmar ZanoteliDepartment of Neurology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
Filipe Tupinamba Di PaceDepartment of Neurology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
Emma MatthewsSt George's University and St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Shahram AttarianReference Center for Neuromuscular Disorders CHU La Timone, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
David BendahanAix-Marseille University, CRMBM, CNRS UMR 7339, Marseille, France.
Matteo GaribaldiDepartment of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Sensory Organs (NESMOS), SAPIENZA University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Laura FiondaNeuromuscular and Rare Disease Centre, Neurology Unit, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Alicia Alonso-JiménezNeuromuscular Reference Center, Department of Neurology, Universitair Ziekenhuis van Antwerpen, Universiteit Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium.
Robert CarlierUniversity Hospital Raymond-Poincaré, Garches, France.
Ali Asghar OkhovatNeurology Department, Shariati Hospital, Neuromuscular Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shahriar NafissiNeurology Department, Shariati Hospital, Neuromuscular Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Atchayaram NaliniNational Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India.
Seena VengalilNational Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India.
Kieren HollingsworthTranslational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Chiara Marini-BettoloJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Volker StraubJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Giorgio TascaJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Jaume BacarditInterdisciplinary Computing and Complex BioSystems (ICOS) Research Group, School of Computing, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Jordi Díaz-ManeraJohn Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2941-7988
Myo‐Guide Consortium

Funding

AFM-Telethon 23444Muscular Dystrophy UK 22GRO-PG24-0575Muscular Dystrophy UK 24GRO-PG24-0736-1National Institute for Health and Care ResearchNewcastle Biomedical Research Centre NIHR203309
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNeuromuscular diseases (NMDs) are rare disorders characterized by progressive muscle fibre loss, leading to replacement by fibrotic and fatty tissue, muscle weakness and disability. Early diagnosis is critical for therapeutic decisions, care planning and genetic counselling. Muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as a valuable diagnostic tool by identifying characteristic patterns of muscle involvement. However, the increasing complexity of these patterns complicates their interpretation, limiting their clinical utility. Additionally, multi-study data aggregation introduces heterogeneity challenges. This study presents a novel multi-study harmonization pipeline for muscle MRI and an AI-driven diagnostic tool to assist clinicians in identifying disease-specific muscle involvement patterns.

methodsWe developed a preprocessing pipeline to standardize MRI fat content across datasets, minimizing source bias. An ensemble of XGBoost models was trained to classify patients based on intramuscular fat replacement, age at MRI and sex. The SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) framework was adapted to analyse model predictions and identify disease-specific muscle involvement patterns. To address class imbalance, training and evaluation were conducted using class-balanced metrics. The model's performance was compared against four expert clinicians using 14 previously unseen MRI scans.

resultsUsing our harmonization approach, we curated a dataset of 2961 MRI samples from genetically confirmed cases of 20 paediatric and adult NMDs. The model achieved a balanced accuracy of 64.8% ± 3.4%, with a weighted top-3 accuracy of 84.7% ± 1.8% and top-5 accuracy of 90.2% ± 2.4%. It also identified key features relevant for differential diagnosis, aiding clinical decision-making. Compared to four expert clinicians, the model obtained the highest top-3 accuracy (75.0% ± 4.8%). The diagnostic tool has been implemented as a free web platform, providing global access to the medical community.

conclusionsThe application of AI in muscle MRI for NMD diagnosis remains underexplored due to data scarcity. This study introduces a framework for dataset harmonization, enabling advanced computational techniques. Our findings demonstrate the potential of AI-based approaches to enhance differential diagnosis by identifying disease-specific muscle involvement patterns. The developed tool surpasses expert performance in diagnostic ranking and is accessible to clinicians worldwide via the Myo-Guide online platform.

Indexed as

Machine LearningMagnetic Resonance ImagingNeuromuscular DiseasesAdultFemaleHumansInternetMaleMiddle Agedartificial intelligencedifferential diagnosismachine learningMRIneuromuscular diseases

Identifiers

PMID40275674
PMCPMC12022233

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.