Expertise

• Head and neck radiology
• MRI of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Research interests

• Anatomical and functional MRI in the management of head and neck cancer
• Artificial intelligence in head and neck radiology
• Oral and maxillofacial radiology

Biography

Dr. Ai obtained his undergraduate medical degree (2012) and master’s degree in clinical medicine (2014) from Wuhan University, followed by a PhD in Imaging and Interventional Radiology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2017. He subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the same department and was promoted to Research Assistant Professor at two universities in Hong Kong. Dr. Ai currently serves as a Research Assistant Professor in Imaging and Interventional Radiology at CUHK.

Dr. AI’s research accomplishments include studies in MRI to predict outcome in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) and proposals to modify the current cancer staging system of NPC. His work has shown nodal volume predicts distant metastases; nodal measurement methods for staging should take into account contiguous nodes; extranodal spread to the muscles and skin is an indicator of poor outcome in N staging. These frequently cited publications have become cornerstones in the latest international consensus recommendations for diagnosis of extranodal extension, in turn driving development for worldwide benchmark in cancer staging. He also applied functional MRI to head and neck characterisation and is one of the first researchers to apply T1rho imaging to clinical head and neck cancer research. He has also greatly been involved in studies in clinical application of artificial intelligence in head and neck radiology.

Dr. Ai has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals, with 23 as first or corresponding author, and has presented over 20 papers and posters at major international radiology conferences. His high-quality MRI studies in NPC have earned multiple honors, including Best Published Paper and Best Scientific Poster Presentation from the European Society of Head and Neck Radiology. His work has garnered over 1,700 citations on Google Scholar, with an H-index of 24. Dr. Ai’s research projects have been supported by the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) in 2021 and 2023.

Dr. Ai used to teach subjects, such as Imaging Bioinformatics and Computed Tomography for Radiography Programme and supervised the final year projects for undergraduates at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Dr. Ai is now collaborating with the department colleagues to teach AI in Radiology to medical students at CUHK.

Editorial board memeber

• Insights into Imaging
• BMC Medical Imaging
• Scientific Reports

Scientific article reviewers for many high-quality journals, such as: European Radiology, Oral Oncology, Cancer Imaging, Korean Journal of Radiology.

Selected Publications

1. Ai QYH*, Chan AB, Chan AZ, Lam JKW, Leung HS, Yu Z, Mo FK, Wong LM, Chen W, King AD. T1rho imaging of head and neck cancer: its association with pathological and immunohistochemical biomarkers in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Cancer Imaging. 2025 Oct 21;25(1):118.

2. King AD, Tsang YM, Leung HS, Yoon RG, Vlantis AC, Wong KCW, Lee JH, Ai QYH. Imaging of extranodal extension: why is it important in head and neck cancer? ESMO Open. 2025 Aug;10(8):105519.

3. Hao J, Nalley A, Yeung AWK, Tanaka R, Ai QYH, Lam WYH, Shan Z, Leung YY, AlHadidi A, Bornstein MM, Tsoi JKH, McGrath C, Hung KF. Characteristics, licensing, and ethical considerations of openly accessible oral-maxillofacial imaging datasets: a systematic review. NPJ Digit Med. 2025 Jul 5;8(1):412.

4. Ai QYH, Leung HS, Mo FKF, Wong LM, Lan L, Hui EP, Ma BBY, King AD. Deep Invasion Volume of the Primary Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Predicts Treatment Outcome. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2025 Jul 1;46(7):1446-1452.

5. Mao K, Ai QYH*, Hung KF, Tse IOL, Leung HS, Liang YY, Chen Y, Wong LM, Lam WKJ, King AD. MRI Detection of Unknown Primary Tumours in the Head and Neck: What Is the Expected Normal Asymmetry in the Size of the Palatine Tonsils? Diagnostics (Basel). 2025 Mar 20;15(6):788.

6. Ai QYH*, Leung HS, Mo FKF, Mao K, Wong LM, Liang YY, Hui EP, Ma BBY, King AD. Change in diffusion weighted imaging after induction chemotherapy outperforms RECIST guideline for long-term outcome prediction in advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Cancer Imaging. 2025 Mar 12;25(1):32.

7. Hung KF, Shan Z, Tse IO, Leung HS, Chen Y, Liang YY, King AD, Lam WJ, Ai QYH*. Association of Cigarette Consumption and Mucosal Thickening in the Paranasal Sinuses on MRI. Int Dent J. 2025 Apr;75(2):1058-1067.

8. Kwong TSA, Leung HS, Mo FKF, Tsang YM, Lan L, Wong LM, So TY, Hui EP, Ma BBY, King AD, Ai QYH*. Volumetric measurement to evaluate treatment response to induction chemotherapy on MRI outperformed RECIST guideline in outcome prediction in advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. ESMO Open. 2024 Oct;9(10):103933.

9. Ai QYH, King AD, Tsang YM, Yu Z, Mao K, Mo FKF, Wong LM, Leung HS, So TY, Hui EP, Ma BBY, Chen W. Predictive markers for head and neck cancer treatment response: T1rho imaging in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Eur Radiol. 2025 Mar;35(3):1265-1275.

10. Zhang R, Wong LM, So TY, Cai Z, Deng Q, Tsang YM, Ai QYH*, King AD. Deep learning for the automatic detection and segmentation of parotid gland tumors on MRI. Oral Oncol. 2024 May;152:106796.

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Patent

1. Granted provisional US Patent (Application no: 63/382,759) – “Automatic nasopharyngeal cancer detection and report generation from screening MRI” – Third inventor out of 3 (33%).