Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40335679›Full record

ArticleNPJ digital medicine2025

High performance with fewer labels using semi-weakly supervised learning for pulmonary embolism diagnosis.

Zixuan Hu, Hui Ming Lin, Shobhit Mathur, Robert Moreland, Christopher D Witiw, Laura Jimenez-Juan, Matias F Callejas, Djeven P Deva, Ervin Sejdić, Errol Colak

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ digital medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing 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

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Zixuan HuThe Edward S. Rogers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Hui Ming LinDepartment of Medical Imaging, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
Shobhit MathurDepartment of Medical Imaging, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
Robert MorelandDepartment of Medical Imaging, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
Christopher D WitiwLi Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Laura Jimenez-JuanDepartment of Medical Imaging, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
Matias F CallejasDepartment of Medical Imaging, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
Djeven P DevaDepartment of Medical Imaging, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada.
Ervin Sejdić *The Edward S. Rogers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Errol Colak *Department of Medical Imaging, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, ON, M5B 1W8, Canada. Errol.Colak@unityhealth.to.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study proposes a semi-weakly supervised learning approach for pulmonary embolism (PE) detection on CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) to alleviate the resource-intensive burden of exhaustive medical image annotation. Attention-based CNN-RNN models were trained on the RSNA pulmonary embolism CT dataset and externally validated on a pooled dataset (Aida and FUMPE). Three configurations included weak (examination-level labels only), strong (all examination and slice-level labels), and semi-weak (examination-level labels plus a limited subset of slice-level labels). The proportion of slice-level labels varying from 0 to 100%. Notably, semi-weakly supervised models using approximately one-quarter of the total slice-level labels achieved an AUC of 0.928, closely matching the strongly supervised model's AUC of 0.932. External validation yielded AUCs of 0.999 for the semi-weak and 1.000 for the strong model. By reducing labeling requirements without sacrificing diagnostic accuracy, this method streamlines model development, accelerates the integration of models into clinical practice, and enhances patient care.

Identifiers

PMID40335679
PMCPMC12059038

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.