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Fully Automatic Segmentation of Acute Ischemic Lesions on Diffusion-Weighted Imaging Using Convolutional Neural Networks: Comparison with Conventional Algorithms

  • Ilsang Woo (Department of Convergence Medicine, Biomedical Engineering Research Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Areum Lee (Department of Convergence Medicine, Biomedical Engineering Research Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Seung Chai Jung (Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Hyunna Lee (Department of Convergence Medicine, Biomedical Engineering Research Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Namkug Kim (Department of Convergence Medicine, Biomedical Engineering Research Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Se Jin Cho (Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Donghyun Kim (Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Jungbin Lee (Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center) ;
  • Leonard Sunwoo (Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital) ;
  • Dong-Wha Kang (Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center)
  • Received : 2018.09.05
  • Accepted : 2019.03.16
  • Published : 2019.08.01

Abstract

Objective: To develop algorithms using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for automatic segmentation of acute ischemic lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and compare them with conventional algorithms, including a thresholding-based segmentation. Materials and Methods: Between September 2005 and August 2015, 429 patients presenting with acute cerebral ischemia (training:validation:test set = 246:89:94) were retrospectively enrolled in this study, which was performed under Institutional Review Board approval. Ground truth segmentations for acute ischemic lesions on DWI were manually drawn under the consensus of two expert radiologists. CNN algorithms were developed using two-dimensional U-Net with squeeze-and-excitation blocks (U-Net) and a DenseNet with squeeze-and-excitation blocks (DenseNet) with squeeze-and-excitation operations for automatic segmentation of acute ischemic lesions on DWI. The CNN algorithms were compared with conventional algorithms based on DWI and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) signal intensity. The performances of the algorithms were assessed using the Dice index with 5-fold cross-validation. The Dice indices were analyzed according to infarct volumes (< 10 mL, ≥ 10 mL), number of infarcts (≤ 5, 6-10, ≥ 11), and b-value of 1000 (b1000) signal intensities (< 50, 50-100, > 100), time intervals to DWI, and DWI protocols. Results: The CNN algorithms were significantly superior to conventional algorithms (p < 0.001). Dice indices for the CNN algorithms were 0.85 for U-Net and DenseNet and 0.86 for an ensemble of U-Net and DenseNet, while the indices were 0.58 for ADC-b1000 and b1000-ADC and 0.52 for the commercial ADC algorithm. The Dice indices for small and large lesions, respectively, were 0.81 and 0.88 with U-Net, 0.80 and 0.88 with DenseNet, and 0.82 and 0.89 with the ensemble of U-Net and DenseNet. The CNN algorithms showed significant differences in Dice indices according to infarct volumes (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The CNN algorithm for automatic segmentation of acute ischemic lesions on DWI achieved Dice indices greater than or equal to 0.85 and showed superior performance to conventional algorithms.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors gratefully acknowledge technical support from the Medical Imaging and Robotics Laboratory (MIRL), Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Center.

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