Improved segmentation of basal ganglia from MR images using convolutional neural network with crossover-typed skip connection.

Journal: International journal of computer assisted radiology and surgery
Published Date:

Abstract

PURPOSE: Accurate and automatic segmentation of basal ganglia from magnetic resonance (MR) images is important for diagnosis and treatment of various brain disorders. However, the basal ganglia segmentation is a challenging task because of the class imbalance and the unclear boundaries among basal ganglia anatomical structures. Thus, we aim to present an encoder-decoder convolutional neural network (CNN)-based method for improved segmentation of basal ganglia by focusing on skip connections that determine the segmentation performance of encoder-decoder CNNs. We also aim to reveal the effect of skip connections on the segmentation of basal ganglia with unclear boundaries.

Authors

  • Takaaki Sugino
    Department of Biomedical Information, Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Taichi Kin
    Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Nobuhito Saito
  • Yoshikazu Nakajima
    Kansai Molecular Diagnosis Network for CNS Tumors, Osaka, 540-0006, Japan.