Deep learning based automated left atrial segmentation and flow quantification of real time phase contrast MRI in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Journal: The international journal of cardiovascular imaging
Published Date: Apr 29, 2025

Abstract

Real time 2D phase contrast (RTPC) MRI is useful for flow quantification in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients, but data analysis requires time-consuming anatomical contouring for many cardiac time frames. Our goal was to develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) for fully automated left atrial (LA) flow quantification. Forty-four AF patients underwent cardiac MRI including LA RTPC, collecting a median of 358 timeframes per scan. 15,307 semi-manual derived RTPC LA contours comprised ground truth for CNN training, validation, and testing. CNN vs. human performance was assessed using Dice scores (DSC), Hausdorff distance (HD), and flow measures (stasis, velocities, flow). LA contour DSC across all patients were similar to human inter-observer DSC (0.90 vs. 0.93) and a median 4.6 mm [3.5-5.9 mm] HD. There was no impact of heart rate variability on contouring quality (low vs. high variability DSC: 0.92 ± 0.05 vs. 0.91 ± 0.03, p = 0.95). CNN based LA flow quantification showed good to excellent agreement with semi-manual analysis (r > 0.90) and small bias in Bland-Altman analysis for mean velocity (-0.10 cm/s), stasis (1%), and net flow (-2.4 ml/s). This study demonstrated the feasibility of CNN based LA flow analysis with good agreements in LA contours and flow measures and resilience to heartbeat variability in AF.

Authors

  • Justin Baraboo
    Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 737 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1600, Chicago, IL 60611.
  • Amanda DiCarlo
    Northwestern Radiology, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Haben Berhane
    Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 737 N Michigan Ave, Ste 1600, Chicago, IL 60611.
  • Daming Shen
    Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
  • Rod Passman
    Northwestern Medicine, Cardiology, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Daniel C Lee
    Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Patrick M McCarthy
    Division of Cardiology Bluhm Cardiovascular InstituteNorthwestern University Chicago IL.
  • Rishi Arora
    Northwestern Medicine, Cardiology, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Dan Kim
    Northwestern Biomedical Engineering, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Michael Markl
    Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics (J.T.P.) and Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine (P.v.O.), Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location AMC, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology (B.D.A., J.C.C., M.M.), Department of Medicine-Cardiology (R.O.B., L.C.), and Department of Biomedical Engineering (M.M.), Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill; and Department of Radiology & Bioengineering, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, Colo (A.J.B.).

Keywords

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals