Application of artificial intelligence in laryngeal lesions: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of AI-assisted technologies, including endoscopy, voice analysis, and histopathology, for detecting and classifying laryngeal lesions.

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, etc. for studies utilizing voice analysis, histopathology for laryngeal lesions, or AI-assisted endoscopy. The results of diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were synthesized by a meta-analysis.

12 studies employing AI-assisted endoscopy, 2 studies for voice analysis, and 4 studies for histopathology were included in the meta-analysis. The combined sensitivity of AI-assisted endoscopy was 91% (95% CI 87–94%) for the classification of benign from malignant lesions and 91% (95% CI 90–93%) for lesion detection. The highest accuracy pooled in detecting lesions versus healthy tissue was the AI-aided endoscopy was 94% (95% CI 92–97%).

For laryngeal lesions, AI-assisted endoscopy shows excellent diagnosis accuracy. But more sizable prospective trials are needed to confirm the practical clinical value.