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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.
Sec. Nuclear Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1506634

Global Research Hotspots and Trends of Iodinated Contrast Agents in Medical Imaging: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Department of Imaging, Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital (The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College), Nanchang, China
  • 2 Jiangxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
  • 3 Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: This study employs bibliometric methods to explore the global research dynamics of iodine contrast agents in medical imaging. Through the visualization of knowledge maps, it presents research progress and reveals the research directions, hotspots, trends, and frontiers in this field.Methods: Using Web of Science Core Collection database, CiteSpace and VOSviewer were employed to conduct a visual analysis of the global application of iodine contrast agents in medical imaging over the past four decades. The analysis focused on annual publication volume, collaboration networks, citation characteristics, and keywords.Results: A total of 3,775 studies on the application of iodine contrast agents in medical imaging were included.The earliest paper was published in 1977, with a slight increase in publications from 1991 to 2004, followed by a significant rise after 2005. The USA emerged as the leading country in publication volume. Harvard University was identified as a globally influential institution with 126 publications. Although a large author collaboration cluster and several smaller ones were formed, most collaborations between authors were relatively weak, with no high-density integrated academic network yet established. Pietsch Hubertus was the most prolific author, while Bae KT was the most highly co-cited author. The most highly cited journal was Radiology, with 2,384 citations. Co-occurrence analysis revealed that the top three keywords by frequency were "agent", "CT", and "image quality." Keyword clustering analysis showed that the top three clusters were "gadolinium", "gold nanoparticles", and "image quality." The timeline analysis indicated that clusters such as "gadolinium", "gold nanoparticles", "image quality", and "material decomposition" exhibited strong temporal continuity, while the keyword with the highest burst value was "digital subtraction angiography" (19.38). Burst term trend analysis suggested that recent research has been focusing on areas like "deep learning", "risk", "radiation dosage", and "iodine quantification".This study is the first to systematically reveal the global trends, hotspots, frontiers, and development dynamics of iodine contrast agents in medical imaging through the use of CiteSpace and VOSviewer. It provides a novel perspective for understanding the role of iodine contrast agents in imaging and offers valuable insights for advancing global research in medical imaging.

    Keywords: Iodine contrast agents, medical imaging, Bibliometrics, visualization, Citespace, VOSviewer

    Received: 19 Oct 2024; Accepted: 12 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Dong and Xie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yun Liu, Department of Imaging, Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital (The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang Medical College), Nanchang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.