Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41293065›Full record

ArticleJournal of biomedical optics2025

Impact of image preprocessing on dermatological OCTA vessel segmentation: a DERMA-OCTA study.

Giulia Rotunno, Massimo Salvi, Julia Deinsberger, Lisa Krainz, Lukasz Bugyi, Benedikt Weber, Christoph Sinz, Harald Kittler, Leopold Schmetterer, Wolfgang Drexler and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of biomedical optics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

12 authors.

Giulia RotunnoPolitecnico di Torino, Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Polito BIOMed Lab, Torino, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4239-5816
Massimo SalviPolitecnico di Torino, Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Polito BIOMed Lab, Torino, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7225-7401
Julia DeinsbergerMedical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology, Vienna, Austria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4237-1526
Lisa KrainzMedical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Vienna, Austria.
Lukasz BugyiMedical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Vienna, Austria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9722-9445
Benedikt WeberMedical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology, Vienna, Austria.
Christoph SinzThe University of Sydney, Melanoma Institute Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5589-1865
Harald KittlerMedical University of Vienna, Department of Dermatology, Vienna, Austria.
Leopold SchmettererMedical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Vienna, Austria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7189-1707
Wolfgang DrexlerMedical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Vienna, Austria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3557-6398
Mengyang LiuMedical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Vienna, Austria.
Kristen M MeiburgerPolitecnico di Torino, Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Polito BIOMed Lab, Torino, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7302-6135

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Significance: Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) offers dye-free, three-dimensional views of skin microvasculature, yet progress in developing reliable and quantitative solutions for vessel architecture analysis is slowed by heterogeneous preprocessing practices, scarce annotated data, and limited evaluation metrics. Aim: We assess how typical OCTA preprocessing steps influence the accuracy of deep learning vessel segmentation, and we identify network designs and metrics best suited to OCTA dermatological data. Approach: Experiments use the open DERMA-OCTA dataset containing 330 volumes from different skin conditions; each volume is additionally provided in five progressively pre-processed versions: original, Bscan normalization, projection artifact attenuation, contrast enhancement, and vesselness filtering. Segmentation is performed with representative 2D and 3D deep learning approaches. Besides standard segmentation metrics, evaluation includes the connectivity-area-length index, which proved particularly effective for assessing dermatological vessel segmentation. Results: The analysis shows that Bscan normalization, projection artifact attenuation, and contrast enhancement incrementally improve segmentation accuracy, whereas vesselness enhancement can impair segmentation performance. Among the tested architectures, 2D models achieved the highest segmentation performance, although 3D approaches proved more effective for deeper tissue layers. Testing across different pathologies revealed challenges in model generalization to varied vascular patterns. Conclusions: Combining 2D and 3D models and using topology-aware indices provide a full, clinically relevant evaluation of algorithm performance.

Indexed as

AngiographyImage Processing, Computer-AssistedMicrovesselsSkinTomography, Optical CoherenceAlgorithmsDeep LearningHumansImaging, Three-Dimensionaldeep learningoptical coherence tomography angiographysegmentationskin imagingvessel analysis

Identifiers

PMID41293065
PMCPMC12643383

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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.