Dataset Information

Developing and testing an algorithm for automatic segmentation of the fetal face from three-dimensional ultrasound images.

ABSTRACT: Fetal craniofacial abnormalities are challenging to detect and diagnose on prenatal ultrasound (US). Image segmentation and computer analysis of three-dimensional US volumes of the fetal face may provide an objective measure to quantify fetal facial features and identify abnormalities. We have developed and tested an atlas-based partially automated facial segmentation algorithm; however, the volumes require additional manual segmentation (MS), which is time and labour intensive and may preclude this method from clinical adoption. These manually refined segmentations can then be used as a reference (atlas) by the partially automated segmentation algorithm to improve algorithmic performance with the aim of eliminating the need for manual refinement and developing a fully automated system. This study assesses the inter- and intra-operator variability of MS and tests an optimized version of our automatic segmentation (AS) algorithm. The manual refinements of 15 fetal faces performed by three operators and repeated by one operator were assessed by Dice score, average symmetrical surface distance and volume difference. The performance of the partially automatic algorithm with difference size atlases was evaluated by Dice score and computational time. Assessment of the manual refinements showed low inter- and intra-operator variability demonstrating its suitability for optimizing the AS algorithm. The algorithm showed improved performance following an increase in the atlas size in turn reducing the need for manual refinement.

SUBMITTER: Clark AE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7735327 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Developing and testing an algorithm for automatic segmentation of the fetal face from three-dimensional ultrasound images.

Clark A E AE Biffi B B Sivera R R Dall'Asta A A Fessey L L Wong T-L TL Paramasivam G G Dunaway D D Schievano S S Lees C C CC

Royal Society open science 20201125 11

Fetal craniofacial abnormalities are challenging to detect and diagnose on prenatal ultrasound (US). Image segmentation and computer analysis of three-dimensional US volumes of the fetal face may provide an objective measure to quantify fetal facial features and identify abnormalities. We have developed and tested an atlas-based partially automated facial segmentation algorithm; however, the volumes require additional manual segmentation (MS), which is time and labour intensive and may preclude ...[more]

PMID: 33391808

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Project description:BackgroundEndometrial thickness is an essential factor affecting female fertility. Clinically, ultrasound imaging is the first choice for the examination of uterine and endometrial-related diseases. However, the boundary of some endometrial is challenging to distinguish due to the effects of image resolution and noise. In addition, the irregular shape of the endometrium makes it more difficult for doctors to measure its thickness. Through the automatic segmentation and extraction of the endometrium, the maximum thickness of the endometrium can be measured automatically and accurately. This provides a quantitative index for doctors to use diagnostically.MethodsIn this study, 85 cases of three-dimensional transvaginal ultrasound (3D TVUS) images were collected retrospectively, including 75 cases of endometrial adhesion and 10 cases of non-adhesion. Firstly, the ultrasound images were filtered by block-matching and 3D filtering and speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion (SRAD). These two kinds of filtered images were combined with the original image to construct a three-channel image. Then, the augmented images were sent to 3D U-Net to realize endometrium segmentation. The performance of the segmentation models was evaluated using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Jaccard, sensitivity, and 95th percentile Hausdorff distance (HD95). Finally, the medial axis transform was used to extract the endometrial centerline, based on which the endometrial thickness could be automatically measured.ResultsThe endometrium segmentation method proposed in this paper achieved 90.83% in Dice, 83.35% in Jaccard, 90.85% in sensitivity, and 12.75 mm in HD95 in the testing set. Taking the doctor's manual measurement as the gold standard, 94.20% of the automatic endometrial thickness measurements based on the segmentation results were within the allowable error range of clinical diagnosis.ConclusionsThis paper presents an automatic endometrium segmentation and thickness measurement method for 3D TVUS images. The experimental results show that this method has high segmentation accuracy to recognize endometrial adhesion images. Furthermore, the thickness measurement based on the segmentation results has high reliability and repeatability, and the accuracy can meet clinical diagnosis needs.

Project description:The location and extent of white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are important criteria for diagnosis, follow-up and prognosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Clinical trials have shown that quantitative values, such as lesion volumes, are meaningful in MS prognosis. Manual lesion delineation for the segmentation of lesions is, however, time-consuming and suffers from observer variability. In this paper, we propose MSmetrix, an accurate and reliable automatic method for lesion segmentation based on MRI, independent of scanner or acquisition protocol and without requiring any training data. In MSmetrix, 3D T1-weighted and FLAIR MR images are used in a probabilistic model to detect white matter (WM) lesions as an outlier to normal brain while segmenting the brain tissue into grey matter, WM and cerebrospinal fluid. The actual lesion segmentation is performed based on prior knowledge about the location (within WM) and the appearance (hyperintense on FLAIR) of lesions. The accuracy of MSmetrix is evaluated by comparing its output with expert reference segmentations of 20 MRI datasets of MS patients. Spatial overlap (Dice) between the MSmetrix and the expert lesion segmentation is 0.67 ± 0.11. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) equals 0.8 indicating a good volumetric agreement between the MSmetrix and expert labelling. The reproducibility of MSmetrix' lesion volumes is evaluated based on 10 MS patients, scanned twice with a short interval on three different scanners. The agreement between the first and the second scan on each scanner is evaluated through the spatial overlap and absolute lesion volume difference between them. The spatial overlap was 0.69 ± 0.14 and absolute total lesion volume difference between the two scans was 0.54 ± 0.58 ml. Finally, the accuracy and reproducibility of MSmetrix compare favourably with other publicly available MS lesion segmentation algorithms, applied on the same data using default parameter settings.

Dataset Information

Developing and testing an algorithm for automatic segmentation of the fetal face from three-dimensional ultrasound images.

Publications

Developing and testing an algorithm for automatic segmentation of the fetal face from three-dimensional ultrasound images.

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