A general approach to liver lesion segmentation in CT images

Li Cao; Jayaram K. Udupa; Dewey Odhner; Lidong Huang; Yubing Tong; Drew A. Torigian

doi:10.1117/12.2217778

18 March 2016 A general approach to liver lesion segmentation in CT images

Li Cao, Jayaram K. Udupa, Dewey Odhner, Lidong Huang, Yubing Tong, Drew A. Torigian

Proceedings Volume 9786, Medical Imaging 2016: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling; 978623 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2217778
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2016, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Lesion segmentation has remained a challenge in different body regions. Generalizability is lacking in published methods as variability in results is common, even for a given organ and modality, such that it becomes difficult to establish standardized methods of disease quantification and reporting. This paper makes an attempt at a generalizable method based on classifying lesions along with their background into groups using clinically used visual attributes. Using an Iterative Relative Fuzzy Connectedness (IRFC) delineation engine, the ideas are implemented for the task of liver lesion segmentation in computed tomography (CT) images. For lesion groups with the same background properties, a few subjects are chosen as the training set to obtain the optimal IRFC parameters for the background tissue components. For lesion groups with similar foreground properties, optimal foreground parameters for IRFC are set as the median intensity value of the training lesion subset. To segment liver lesions belonging to a certain group, the devised method requires manual loading of the corresponding parameters, and correct setting of the foreground and background seeds. The segmentation is then completed in seconds. Segmentation accuracy and repeatability with respect to seed specification are evaluated. Accuracy is assessed by the assignment of a delineation quality score (DQS) to each case. Inter-operator repeatability is assessed by the difference between segmentations carried out independently by two operators. Experiments on 80 liver lesion cases show that the proposed method achieves a mean DQS score of 4.03 and inter-operator repeatability of 92.3%.

Citation Download Citation

Li Cao, Jayaram K. Udupa, Dewey Odhner, Lidong Huang, Yubing Tong, and Drew A. Torigian "A general approach to liver lesion segmentation in CT images", Proc. SPIE 9786, Medical Imaging 2016: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling, 978623 (18 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2217778

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