Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39097163›Full record

ArticleJournal of endodontics2024

Leveraging Pretrained Transformers for Efficient Segmentation and Lesion Detection in Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Scans.

Rui Qi Chen, Yeonju Lee, Hao Yan, Muralidhar Mupparapu, Fleming Lure, Jing Li, Frank C Setzer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of endodontics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Transformer-based models in dentistry: a systematic review.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
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  9. Oral-Anatomical Knowledge-Informed Semi-Supervised Learning for 3D Dental CBCT Segmentation and Lesion Detection.IEEE transactions on automation science and engineering : a publication of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Rui Qi ChenH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Yeonju LeeH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Hao YanSchool of Computing and Augmented Intelligence Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.
Muralidhar MupparapuDepartment of Oral Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fleming LureMS Technologies Corporation, Rockville, Maryland.
Jing LiH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Frank C SetzerDepartment of Endodontics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: fsetzer@upenn.edu.

Funding

AIDen: An AI-empowered detection and diagnosis system for jaw lesions using CBCTR41DE031485 · NIDCR · MS TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION · PI LI, JING, LURE, FLEMING Y. M. · 2022 to 2022
$300k
NIDCR NIH HHS R41 DE031485
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionCone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is widely used to detect jaw lesions, although CBCT interpretation is time-consuming and challenging. Artificial intelligence for CBCT segmentation may improve lesion detection accuracy. However, consistent automated lesion detection remains difficult, especially with limited training data. This study aimed to assess the applicability of pretrained transformer-based architectures for semantic segmentation of CBCT volumes when applied to periapical lesion detection.

methodsCBCT volumes (n = 138) were collected and annotated by expert clinicians using 5 labels - "lesion," "restorative material," "bone," "tooth structure," and "background." U-Net (convolutional neural network-based) and Swin-UNETR (transformer-based) models, pretrained (Swin-UNETR-PRETRAIN), and from scratch (Swin-UNETR-SCRATCH), were trained with subsets of the annotated CBCTs. These models were then evaluated for semantic segmentation performance using the Sørensen-Dice coefficient (DICE), lesion detection performance using sensitivity and specificity, and training sample size requirements by comparing models trained with 20, 40, 60, or 103 samples.

resultsTrained with 103 samples, Swin-UNETR-PRETRAIN achieved a DICE of 0.8512 for "lesion," 0.8282 for "restorative materials," 0.9178 for "bone," 0.9029 for "tooth structure," and 0.9901 for "background." "Lesion" DICE was statistically similar between Swin-UNETR-PRETRAIN trained with 103 and 60 images (P > .05), with the latter achieving 1.00 sensitivity and 0.94 specificity in lesion detection. With small training sets, Swin-UNETR-PRETRAIN outperformed Swin-UNETR-SCRATCH in DICE over all labels (P < .001 [n = 20], P < .001 [n = 40]), and U-Net in lesion detection specificity (P = .006 [n = 20], P = .031 [n = 40]).

conclusionsTransformer-based Swin-UNETR architectures allowed for excellent semantic segmentation and periapical lesion detection. Pretrained, it may provide an alternative with smaller training datasets compared to classic U-Net architectures.

Indexed as

Cone-Beam Computed TomographyArtificial IntelligenceHumansNeural Networks, ComputerSensitivity and Specificity

Identifiers

PMID39097163
PMCPMC11471365

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.