AUTHOR=Li Hong-ling , Zhi Ri-zeng , Liu Hua-sheng , Wang Mei , Yu Si-jie 

TITLE=Multimodal machine learning-based model for differentiating nontuberculous mycobacteria from mycobacterium tuberculosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1470072

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2025.1470072

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=ObjectiveTo develop and evaluate the effectiveness of multimodal machine learning approach for the differentiation of NTM from MTB.MethodsThe clinical data and CT images of 175 patients were retrospectively obtained. We established clinical data-based model, radiomics-based model, and multimodal (clinical plus radiomics) model gradually using 5 machine learning algorithms (Logistic, XGBoost, AdaBoost, RandomForest, and LightGBM). Optimal algorithm in each model was selected after evaluating the differentiation performance both in training and validation sets. The model performance was further verified using external new MTB and NTM patient data. Performance was also compared with the existing approaches and model.ResultsThe clinical data-based model contained age, gender, and IL-6, and the RandomForest algorithm achieved the optimal learning model. Two key radiomics features of CT images were identified and then used to establish the radiomics model, finding that model from Logistic algorithm was the optimal. The multimodal model contained age, IL-6, and the 2 radiomics features, and the optimal model was from LightGBM algorithm. The optimal multimodal model had the highest AUC value, accuracy, sensitivity, and negative predictive value compared with the optimal clinical or radiomics models, and its’ favorable performance was also verified in the external test dataset (accuracy = 0.745, sensitivity = 0.900). Additionally, the performance of multimodal model was better than that of the radiologist, NGS detection, and existing machine learning model, with an increased accuracy of 26, 4, and 6%, respectively.ConclusionThis is the first study to establish multimodal model to distinguish NTM from MTB and it performs well in differentiating them, which has the potential to aid clinical decision-making for experienced radiologists.