Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40312690›Full record

ArticleBMC medical imaging2025

A deep learning algorithm for automated adrenal gland segmentation on non-contrast CT images.

Fanxing Meng, Tuo Zhang, Yukun Pan, Xiaojing Kan, Yuwei Xia, Mengyuan Xu, Jin Cai, Fangbin Liu, Yinghui Ge

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical imaging, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Fanxing Meng *Department of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
Tuo Zhang *Department of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
Yukun PanDepartment of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
Xiaojing KanDepartment of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
Yuwei XiaShanghai United Imaging Intelligence Co. Ltd, 701 Yunjin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200030, China.
Mengyuan XuDepartment of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
Jin CaiDepartment of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
Fangbin LiuDepartment of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China.
Yinghui GeDepartment of Radiology, Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Fuwai Central-China Cardiovascular Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450046, China. cjr.geyinghui@zzu.edu.cn.

Funding

Henan Cardiovascular Disease Center (Central China Subcenter of National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases) No. 2023-FZX17Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Cardiology Medical Imaging No. 2021-44-16
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe adrenal glands are small retroperitoneal organs, few reference standards exist for adrenal CT measurements in clinical practice. This study aims to develop a deep learning (DL) model for automated adrenal gland segmentation on non-contrast CT images, and to conduct a preliminary large-scale study on age-related volume changes in normal adrenal glands using the model output values.

methodsThe model was trained and evaluated on a development dataset of annotated non-contrast CT scans of bilateral adrenal glands, utilizing nnU-Net for segmentation task. The ground truth was manually established by two experienced radiologists, and the model performance was assessed using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). Additionally, five radiologists provided annotations on a subset of 20 randomly selected cases to measure inter-observer variability. Following validation, the model was applied to a large-scale normal adrenal glands dataset to segment adrenal glands.

resultsThe DL model development dataset contained 1301 CT examinations. In the test set, the median DSC scores for the segmentation model of left and right adrenal glands were 0.899 and 0.904 respectively, and in the independent test set were 0.900 and 0.896. Inter-observer DSC for radiologist manual segmentation did not differ from automated machine segmentation (P = 0.541). The large-scale normal adrenal glands dataset contained 2000 CT examinations, the graph shows that adrenal gland volume increases first and then decreases with age.

conclusionThe developed DL model demonstrates accurate adrenal gland segmentation, and enables a comprehensive study of age-related adrenal gland volume variations.

Indexed as

Adrenal GlandsDeep LearningRadiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-AssistedTomography, X-Ray ComputedAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAlgorithmsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedObserver VariationYoung AdultAdrenal glandAdrenal gland segmentationDice similarity coefficientnnU-NetNon-contrast CT

Identifiers

PMID40312690
PMCPMC12046700

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