DBSegment: Fast and robust segmentation of deep brain structures considering domain generalisation

in Human Brain Mapping (2022)

Segmenting deep brain structures from magnetic resonance images is important for patient diagnosis, surgical planning, and research. Most current state-of-the-art solutions follow a segmentation-by ... [more ▼]

Segmenting deep brain structures from magnetic resonance images is important for patient diagnosis, surgical planning, and research. Most current state-of-the-art solutions follow a segmentation-by-registration approach, where subject magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) are mapped to a template with well-defined segmentations. However, registration-based pipelines are time-consuming, thus, limiting their clinical use. This paper uses deep learning to provide a one-step, robust, and efficient deep brain segmentation solution directly in the native space. The method consists of a preprocessing step to conform all MRI images to the same orientation, followed by a convolutional neural network using the nnU-Net framework. We use a total of 14 datasets from both research and clinical collections. Of these, seven were used for training and validation and seven were retained for testing. We trained the network to segment 30 deep brain structures, as well as a brain mask, using labels generated from a registration-based approach. We evaluated the generalizability of the network by performing a leave-one-dataset-out cross-validation, and independent testing on unseen datasets. Furthermore, we assessed cross-domain transportability by evaluating the results separately on different domains. We achieved an average dice score similarity of 0.89 ± 0.04 on the test datasets when compared to the registration-based gold standard. On our test system, the computation time decreased from 43 min for a reference registration-based pipeline to 1.3 min. Our proposed method is fast, robust, and generalizes with high reliability. It can be extended to the segmentation of other brain structures. It is publicly available on GitHub, and as a pip package for convenient usage. [less ▲]

The effect of dataset confounding on predictions of deep neural networks for medical imaging

in Vol. 3 (2022): Proceedings of the Northern Lights Deep Learning Workshop 2022 (2022, April 18)

The use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in medical imaging has often outperformed previous solutions and even specialists, becoming a promising technology for Computer-aided-Diagnosis (CAD) systems ... [more ▼]

The use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in medical imaging has often outperformed previous solutions and even specialists, becoming a promising technology for Computer-aided-Diagnosis (CAD) systems. However, recent works suggested that CNN may have poor generalisation on new data, for instance, generated in different hospitals. Uncontrolled confounders have been proposed as a common reason. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the impact of confounding data in unknown scenarios. We assessed the effect of four confounding configurations: total, strong, light and balanced. We found the confounding effect is especially prominent in total confounder scenarios, while the effect on light and strong confounding scenarios may depend on the dataset robustness. Our findings indicate that the confounding effect is independent of the architecture employed. These findings might explain why models can report good metrics during the development stage but fail to translate to real-world settings. We highlight the need for thorough consideration of these commonly unattended aspects, to develop safer CNN-based CAD systems. [less ▲]

Initialisation of Deep Brain Stimulation Parameters with Multi-objective Optimisation Using Imaging Data

in Bildverarbeitung für die Medizin 2022 (2022)

Following the deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery, the stimulation parameters are manually tuned to reduce symptoms. This procedure can be timeconsuming, especially with directional leads. We propose an ... [more ▼]

Following the deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery, the stimulation parameters are manually tuned to reduce symptoms. This procedure can be timeconsuming, especially with directional leads. We propose an automated methodology to initialise contact configurations using imaging techniques. The goal is to maximise the electric field on the target while minimising the spillover, and the electric field on regions of avoidance. By superposing pre-computed electric fields, we solve the optimisation problem in less than a minute, much more efficient compared to finite element methods. Our method offers a robust and rapid solution, and it is expected to considerably reduce the time required for manual parameter tuning. [less ▲]

PaCER - A fully automated method for electrode trajectory and contact reconstruction in deep brain stimulation

in NeuroImage: Clinical (2018), 17

Abstract Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical intervention where electrodes are permanently implanted into the brain in order to modulate pathologic neural activity. The post-operative ... [more ▼]

Abstract Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical intervention where electrodes are permanently implanted into the brain in order to modulate pathologic neural activity. The post-operative reconstruction of the DBS electrodes is important for an efficient stimulation parameter tuning. A major limitation of existing approaches for electrode reconstruction from post-operative imaging that prevents the clinical routine use is that they are manual or semi-automatic, and thus both time-consuming and subjective. Moreover, the existing methods rely on a simplified model of a straight line electrode trajectory, rather than the more realistic curved trajectory. The main contribution of this paper is that for the first time we present a highly accurate and fully automated method for electrode reconstruction that considers curved trajectories. The robustness of our proposed method is demonstrated using a multi-center clinical dataset consisting of N=44 electrodes. In all cases the electrode trajectories were successfully identified and reconstructed. In addition, the accuracy is demonstrated quantitatively using a high-accuracy phantom with known ground truth. In the phantom experiment, the method could detect individual electrode contacts with high accuracy and the trajectory reconstruction reached an error level below 100 μm (0.046 ± 0.025 mm). An implementation of the method is made publicly available such that it can directly be used by researchers or clinicians. This constitutes an important step towards future integration of lead reconstruction into standard clinical care. [less ▲]

A solution for Multi-Alignment by Transformation Synchronisation

in The proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) (2015)

The alignment of a set of objects by means of transformations plays an important role in computer vision. Whilst the case for only two objects can be solved globally, when multiple objects are considered ... [more ▼]

The alignment of a set of objects by means of transformations plays an important role in computer vision. Whilst the case for only two objects can be solved globally, when multiple objects are considered usually iterative methods are used. In practice the iterative methods perform well if the relative transformations between any pair of objects are free of noise. However, if only noisy relative transformations are available (e.g. due to missing data or wrong correspondences) the iterative methods may fail. Based on the observation that the underlying noise-free transformations lie in the null space of a matrix that can directly be obtained from pairwise alignments, this paper presents a novel method for the synchronisation of pairwise transformations such that they are globally consistent. Simulations demonstrate that for a high amount of noise, a large proportion of missing data and even for wrong correspondence assignments the method delivers encouraging results. [less ▲]