High-resolution computed tomography assessment of connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease: Advances in diagnosis and prognostic evaluation

Figure 1 Clinical readiness and future directions of high-resolution computed tomography-based assessment in connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease. Visual interpretation and semiquantitative scoring represent established clinical approaches, whereas quantitative computed tomography serves as an emerging objective adjunct with variable implementation across centers. Radiomics, machine learning, and deep learning remain predominantly investigational. Multimodal integration represents a conceptual future research direction requiring prospective validation, standardized and reproducible workflows, harmonized endpoints, interpretability, and demonstration of clinical utility before broader implementation. This original schematic was designed and constructed by the authors using Microsoft PowerPoint. The graphical icons were selected from the open-source Tabler Icons library and used under the MIT License. HRCT: High-resolution computed tomography; CTD-ILD: Connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease; CT: Computed tomography.