Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40937159›Full record

ArticleImaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)2025

EPISeg: Automated segmentation of the spinal cord on echo planar images using open-access multi-center data.

Rohan Banerjee, Merve Kaptan, Alexandra Tinnermann, Ali Khatibi, Alice Dabbagh, Christian Büchel, Christian W Kündig, Christine S W Law, Dario Pfyffer, David J Lythgoe and 31 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Spatial distribution of spinal cord fMRI activity with electrocutaneous stimulation.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

41 authors.

Rohan BanerjeeDepartment of Computer Science, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Merve KaptanDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.
Alexandra TinnermannDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9646-0201
Ali KhatibiMcConnell Brain Imaging Center, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0679-0499
Alice DabbaghMax Planck Research Group Pain Perception, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9515-6810
Christian BüchelDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Christian W KündigSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0351-6108
Christine S W LawDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0524-6029
Dario PfyfferDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2406-9251
David J LythgoeDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5078-9025
Dimitra TsivakaDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4584-0236
Dimitri Van De VilleDepartment of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2879-3861
Falk EippertMax Planck Research Group Pain Perception, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3986-1719
Fauziyya MuhammadDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0028-0375
Gary H GloverRadiological Sciences Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0562-0474
Gergely DavidSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9379-5193
Grace HaynesStephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma in Norman, Norman, OK, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4862-0554
Jan HaakerDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8366-9559
Jonathan C W BrooksDepartment of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3335-6209
Jürgen FinsterbuschDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Katherine T MartucciCenter for Translational Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States.
Kimberly J HemmerlingDepartment of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9913-492X
Mahdi Mobarak-AbadiCentre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2114-9416
Mark A HoggarthDepartment of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6516-5840
Matthew A HowardDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Molly G BrightDepartment of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7257-9646
Nawal KinanyDepartment of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3804-0991
Olivia S KowalczykDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6543-290X
Patrick FreundSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4851-2246
Robert L BarryAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States.
Sean MackeyDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7744-5348
Shahabeddin VahdatMcConnell Brain Imaging Center, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0494-6974
Simon SchadingSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3969-193X
Stephen B McMahonWolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases, King's College London, London United Kingdom.
Todd ParishDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States.
Véronique Marchand-PauvertSorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Imagerie Biomédicale, Paris, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0226-7169
Yufen ChenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States.
Zachary A SmithDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States.
Kenneth A Weber IiDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.
Benjamin De LeenerDepartment of Computer Science, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1378-2756
Julien Cohen-AdadMila-Quebec AI Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Funding

Dermatomal Mapping with Spinal Cord Functional Magnetic Resonance ImagingR01NS133305 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Kenneth Arnold Weber · 2023 to 2026
$2.3M
MRI-Derived Neuromuscular Signatures to Predict Surgical Response in Degenerative Cervical MyelopathyR01NS128478 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Kenneth Arnold Weber · 2023 to 2026
$2.2M
Neuroimaging-Based Brain and Spinal Cord Biomarkers for Cervical RadiculopathyK23NS104211 · NINDS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI WEBER, KENNETH ARNOLD · 2018 to 2022
$875k
Investigating Pain Processing in the Brain, Brainstem, and Spinal Cord with fMRIF32AT007800 · NCCIH · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI WEBER, KENNETH ARNOLD · 2012 to 2015
$198k
NCCIH NIH HHS F32 AT007800NINDS NIH HHS K23 NS104211NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS128478NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS133305
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the spinal cord is relevant for studying sensation, movement, and autonomic function. Preprocessing of spinal cord fMRI data involves segmentation of the spinal cord on gradient-echo echo planar imaging (EPI) images. Current automated segmentation methods do not work well on these data, due to the low spatial resolution, susceptibility artifacts causing distortions and signal drop-out, ghosting, and motion-related artifacts. Consequently, this segmentation task demands a considerable amount of manual effort which takes time and is prone to user bias. In this work, we (i) gathered a multi-center dataset of spinal cord gradient-echo EPI with ground-truth segmentations and shared it on OpenNeuro https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds005143/versions/1.3.1 and (ii) developed a deep learning-based model, EPISeg, for the automatic segmentation of the spinal cord on gradient-echo EPI data. We observe a significant improvement in terms of segmentation quality compared with other available spinal cord segmentation models. Our model is resilient to different acquisition protocols as well as commonly observed artifacts in fMRI data. The training code is available at https://github.com/sct-pipeline/fmri-segmentation/, and the model has been integrated into the Spinal Cord Toolbox as a command-line tool.

Indexed as

echo planar imagingfunctional magnetic resonance imagingsegmentationspinal cord

Identifiers

PMID40937159
PMCPMC12421696

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.