AI may identify improper endotracheal tube position on chest radiographs allowing earlier repositioning

South Korea: Automated AI (artificial intelligence) identification of improper endotracheal tube (ETT) position on chest radiograph may allow earlier repositioning and thereby reduce complications, according to an accepted manuscript published in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR). 

"AI identified improperly positioned ETTs on chest radiographs obtained after ETT insertion, as well as on chest radiographs obtained from patients in the ICU at two institutions," wrote corresponding author Eui Jin Hwang, MD, PhD, from the Department of Radiology at Korea’s Seoul National University Hospital.

Hwang et al.’s retrospective AJR study included 539 chest radiographs obtained immediately after ETT insertion from January 1, 2020, to March 31, 2020 in 505 patients (293 men, 212 women; mean age, 63 years) from institution A (sample A); 637 chest radiographs obtained from January 1, 2020, to January 3, 2020 in 304 patients (158 men, 147 women; mean age, 63 years) in the ICU (with or without an ETT) from institution A (sample B); and 546 chest radiographs obtained from January 1, 2020, to January 20, 2020, in 83 patients (54 men, 29 women; mean age, 70 years) in the ICU (with or without an ETT) from institution B (sample C). Lunit’s commercial DL-based AI system was used to identify ETT presence and measure ETT tip-to-carina distance (TCD). The reference standard for proper ETT position was TCD between 3 cm and 7 cm, determined by human readers. Critical ETT position was separately defined as ETT tip below the carina or TCD less than or equal to 1 cm.