Table 8 Risk scoring system of thyroid nodules on training and validating dataset in overall nodules

Benign

Low suspicion

Intermediate suspicion

High suspicion

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

145

6

91

14

21

37

21

912

96.0%

4.00%

86.7%

13.3%

36.2%

63.8%

2.2%

97.8%

LR

S_LR<l_c(0.470)

l_c≤S_LR<0.5

0.5≤S_LR<h_c(0.796)

S_LR≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

130

35

5

8

74

165

69

761

78.8%

21.2%

38.5%

61.5%

31.0%

69.0%

8.3%

91.7%

SVM

S_SVM<l_c(0.467)

l_c≤S_SVM<0.5

0.5≤S_SVM<h_c(0.863)

S_SVM≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

122

24

4

2

81

166

68

777

83.6%

16.4%

66.7%

33.3%

33.6%

66.4%

8.0%

92.0%

NET

S_NET<l_c(0.465)

l_c≤S_NET<0.5

0.5≤S_NET<h_c(0.840)

S_NET≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

135

32

3

3

66

169

74

765

80.8%

19.2%

50.0%

50.0%

29.1%

71.9%

8.8%

91.2%

ELM

S_ELM<l_c(0.409)

l_c≤S_ELM<0.5

0.5≤S_ELM<h_c(0.779)

S_ELM≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

120

27

0

0

89

182

70

760

81.6%

18.4%

—

—

32.8%

67.2%

8.4%

91.6%

KNN

S_KNN<l_c(0.466)

l_c≤S_KNN<0.5

0.5≤S_KNN<h_c(0.833)

S_KNN≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

125

31

0

0

96

247

57

691

80.1%

19.9%

—

—

28.0%

72.0%

7.6%

92.4%

NB

S_NB<l_c(0.391)

l_c≤S_NB<0.5

0.5≤S_NB<h_c(0.836)

S_NB≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

148

72

9

14

27

90

94

793

67.3%

32.7%

39.1%

60.9%

23.1%

76.9%

10.6%

89.4%

ADAB

S_ADAB<l_c(0.406)

l_c≤S_ADAB<0.5

0.5≤S_ADAB<h_c(0.560)

S_ADAB≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

135

9

100

24

15

36

28

900

93.8%

6.2%

80.6%

19.4%

29.4%

70.6%

3.0%

97.0%

LOG

S_LOG<l_c(0.498)

l_c≤S_LOG<0.5

0.5≤S_LOG<h_c(0.802)

S_LOG≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

127

38

0

0

80

167

71

764

77.0%

23.0%

—

—

32.4%

67.6%

8.5%

91.5%

LDA

S_LDA<l_c(0.464)

l_c≤S_LDA<0.5

0.5≤S_LDA<h_c(0.879)

S_LDA≥h_c

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

benign

malignancy

130

39

3

8

73

172

72

750

76.9%

23.1%

27.3%

72.7%

29.8%

70.2%

8.8%

91.2%

Management

After a 6-month

After 3-month

FNA biopsy

of thyroid

sonographic

sonographic follow-up

FNA biopsy

or surgical

nodules

follow-up

or FNA biopsy

treatment