Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41136442›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Addressing data heterogeneity in distributed medical imaging with heterosync learning.

Hang-Tong Hu, Ming-De Li, Xin-Xin Lin, Meng-Yao Cai, Shuai Liu, Shao-Hong Wu, Wen-Juan Tong, Feng-Yu Ye, Jin-Bo Hu, Wei-Ping Ke and 9 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
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

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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. 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

19 authors.

Hang-Tong Hu *Department of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Ming-De Li *Department of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Xin-Xin LinDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Meng-Yao CaiDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Shuai LiuSchool of Physics and Electronic Information, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning, China.
Shao-Hong WuDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Wen-Juan TongDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Feng-Yu YeSchool of Physics and Electronic Information, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning, China.
Jin-Bo HuSchool of Physics and Electronic Information, Guangxi Minzu University, Nanning, China.
Wei-Ping KeDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Li-Da ChenDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Hong YangDepartment of Medical Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
Guang-Jian LiuDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (Guangdong Gastrointestinal Hospital), Guangzhou, China.
Hai-Bo WangResearch Center of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Ming-De LuDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Qing-Hua HuangSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Optics and Electronics (iOPEN), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China. qhhuang@nwpu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1080-6940
Ming KuangDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. kuangm@mail.sysu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7397-5779
Wei WangDepartment of Medical Ultrasonics, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. wangw73@mail.sysu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9485-583X
Ultrasound Engineering Institute, Medical Industry Branch of China Association Plant Engineering (UE-MICAP)

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Data heterogeneity critically limits distributed artificial intelligence (AI) in medical imaging. We propose HeteroSync Learning (HSL), a privacy-preserving framework that addresses heterogeneity through: (1) Shared Anchor Task (SAT) for cross-node representation alignment, and (2) an Auxiliary Learning Architecture coordinating SAT with local primary tasks. Validated via large-scale simulations (feature/label/quantity/combined heterogeneity) and a real-world multi-center thyroid cancer study, HSL outperforms local learning, 12 benchmark methods (FedAvg, FedProx, SplitAVG, FedRCL, FedCOME, etc.), and foundation models (e.g., CLIP) by better stability and up to 40% in area under the curve (AUC), matching central learning performance. HSL achieves 0.846 AUC on the out-of-distribution pediatric thyroid cancer data (outperforming others by 5.1-28.2%), demonstrating superior generalization. Visualizations confirm HSL successfully homogenizes heterogeneous distributions. This work provides an effective solution for distributed medical AI, enabling equitable collaboration across institutions and advancing healthcare AI democratization.

Indexed as

Artificial IntelligenceDiagnostic ImagingImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMachine LearningAlgorithmsHumansThyroid Neoplasms

Identifiers

PMID41136442
PMCPMC12552729

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.