Deep learning links lung shape differences and COVID-19 severity

A research team from Emory AI.Health used deep learning to determine that COVID-19 patients experience significant lung damage and deformities associated with the disease’s severity, according to a study published in the Journal of Computers in Medicine and Biology.

The researchers emphasized that severe cases of COVID-19 can result in extensive lung disease and deformities, but the impact of disease severity on lung structure has not been well-studied to date. Studying the disease’s effects on internal organs is critical to informing care strategies for COVID-19 patients.

“COVID-19 can cause serious complications such as pneumonia, severe lung damage, and blood infections, which can lead to lasting lung problems like scarring and chronic breathing issues. While some people recover fully, others may suffer permanent lung damage,” explained first author of the study Amogh Hiremath, AI scientist at Picture Health, in a news release. “Understanding how COVID-19 affects the lungs during its early onset can help us better understand and treat the disease.”

To investigate the relationship between COVID-19 severity and lung structure, the research team turned to deep learning.

Chest computed tomography (CT) scans were gathered from a cohort of 3,230 patients. These participants were then split into three groups based on COVID-19 presence and severity: healthy, mild-COVID-19 and severe COVID-19.

This information was used to explore lung shape differences among the groups with baseline CT imaging. The researchers fed this data to a 3D residual convolutional network to segment and analyze each image.

In doing so, the deep learning approach allowed the team to build a “map” of lung shape changes. This analysis revealed that lung deformations were prominent in those infected with COVID-19, regardless of severity.

Across both mild and severe cases, differences along the mediastinal surfaces of the lungs were observed, and significant differences in the basal surfaces were found when the healthy and severe COVID-19 cohorts were compared.

The researchers indicated that these deformities are likely to impair lung function, leading to potential adverse outcomes in overall health, quality of life and mortality for affected patients. The team further noted that their findings could help shed light on the lingering effects of COVID-19 on lung function, especially as health systems and patients grapple with long COVID.

“Although the acute phase of COVID-19 has largely been mitigated, the persistence and impact of long COVID remains a concern. Our AI analysis identified specific areas of lung damage that could have enduring consequences,” said Anant Madabhushi, PhD, executive director of Emory AI.Health and principal investigator of the study. “While we have not yet examined long COVID patients explicitly, it’s crucial to investigate whether these individuals exhibit residual lung deformation, which could provide valuable insights into the long-term effects of this disease.”