What This Site Is
tirads-calculator.com is an independent educational resource built around one clinical system: ACR TI-RADS, the American College of Radiology’s method for assessing thyroid nodules on ultrasound.
The site exists because that system is genuinely useful and genuinely hard to find explained clearly. The official guidance lives in a 2017 journal paper written for radiologists. Patients receive a report saying “TR4” with no explanation of what that means. Trainees need the point values at hand while reporting. This site translates the published system into a working calculator and plain-language guides, with every figure traceable to its source.
Who Runs It
This site is built and maintained by Maya Leo, a web developer who builds medical reference tools from published clinical guidelines. You can reach me through the Contact page.
I am not a doctor. I have no medical qualification, and I do not diagnose, treat, or advise on anyone’s health. I want that stated plainly on the page you are most likely to check before deciding whether to trust what you read here.
What I do is different and more limited: I take a published, peer-reviewed clinical scoring system and make it accurate, accessible, and free to use. The calculator implements the ACR TI-RADS 2017 point values exactly as published. The articles explain what those categories mean. Neither replaces a physician, and both say so on every page.
Why That Distinction Matters
Health information online has a credibility problem, and a lot of it comes from sites that imply medical authority they do not have. I would rather tell you exactly what this site is and let you judge it on that basis.
Here is what that means in practice:
- Every clinical figure is sourced. The point values, malignancy risk percentages, and biopsy size thresholds all come from the ACR TI-RADS white paper (Tessler FN, Middleton WD, Grant EG, et al., Journal of the American College of Radiology, 2017;14(5):587–595) and the ACR TI-RADS User’s Guide. Where a figure varies between published series, the range is given rather than a single number.
- Nothing here is original clinical opinion. This site does not generate medical advice, propose new thresholds, or interpret anyone’s individual case. It reports what the published guidelines say.
- Where the source is silent, that is stated. For example, the ACR chart does not explicitly address a nodule scoring exactly 1 point. The calculator documents the conservative interpretation used and notes that TR1 and TR2 share identical management, so the ambiguity has no clinical consequence.
- Corrections are welcome and acted on. If you find an error, let me know. Accuracy matters more than pride, and a correction on a medical reference is worth more than an unblemished record.
How the Calculator Works
The TI-RADS calculator runs entirely in your browser. You select the five ultrasound features described in your report, enter the nodule’s size, and it returns the TI-RADS category, the published malignancy risk estimate, and the size-based FNA or follow-up recommendation.
Nothing you enter is transmitted, stored, or logged. The calculation happens on your own device. There is no account, no database, and no record of your inputs. Closing the page or clicking Reset permanently discards them. Your data stays on your device only.
The same applies to the thyroid volume calculator and the EU-TIRADS calculator.
Who This Is For
Patients who have received an ultrasound report and want to understand what TR3 or TR4 actually means before their next appointment. Understanding your own results should not require a radiology degree, and being able to ask your doctor a better question is a legitimate reason to look something up.
Radiologists, residents, and sonographers who want the point values and size thresholds in one place while reporting, without opening a PDF.
The articles are written for both. Where clinical nuance matters, it is marked in a section for clinicians. Where plain language helps, it is marked for patients. Neither audience is served by writing down to them.
What This Site Will Never Do
- Tell you whether you have cancer
- Recommend a treatment
- Interpret your specific scan or report
- Suggest you delay or avoid seeing a doctor
- Let advertising influence clinical content
If you have a thyroid nodule, the person who should be assessing it is a qualified physician who can see your images, your bloodwork, and your history. This site is preparation for that conversation, not a substitute for it.
Independence
tirads-calculator.com is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the American College of Radiology, the European Thyroid Association, or any medical institution. The TI-RADS and EU-TIRADS systems are referenced descriptively for education under fair use.
The site is supported by advertising. Advertising has no influence on clinical content, on the calculator’s logic, or on what gets published. See the Editorial Policy for the full standards this site holds itself to.
Sources
Primary references used throughout this site:
- Tessler FN, Middleton WD, Grant EG, et al. ACR Thyroid Imaging, Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS): White Paper of the ACR TI-RADS Committee. J Am Coll Radiol. 2017;14(5):587–595.
- ACR TI-RADS User’s Guide, American College of Radiology.
- Russ G, Bonnema SJ, Erdogan MF, et al. European Thyroid Association Guidelines for Ultrasound Malignancy Risk Stratification of Thyroid Nodules in Adults: The EU-TIRADS. Eur Thyroid J. 2017;6(5):225–237.
- Ali SZ, Cibas ES, eds. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology.
- World Health Organization reference ranges for thyroid volume.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or feedback: visit the Contact page.
If you believe anything on this site is factually wrong, please tell me. Include the page URL and what you think the correct information is. Clinical corrections are prioritised and acted on quickly.
I cannot answer questions about your individual case, your scan, or your results. Please bring those to your own doctor.