A joint 3D UNet-Graph Neural Network-based method for Airway Segmentation from chest CTs

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

We present an end-to-end deep learning segmentation method by combining a 3D UNet architecture with a graph neural network (GNN) model. In this approach, the convolutional layers at the deepest level of the UNet are replaced by a GNN-based module with a series of graph convolutions. The dense feature maps at this level are transformed into a graph input to the GNN module. The incorporation of graph convolutions in the UNet provides nodes in the graph with information that is based on node connectivity, in addition to the local features learnt through the downsampled paths. This information can help improve segmentation decisions. By stacking several graph convolution layers, the nodes can access higher order neighbourhood information without substantial increase in computational expense. We propose two types of node connectivity in the graph adjacency: i) one predefined and based on a regular node neighbourhood, and ii) one dynamically computed during training and using the nearest neighbour nodes in the feature space. We have applied this method to the task of segmenting the airway tree from chest CT scans. Experiments have been performed on 32 CTs from the Danish Lung Cancer Screening Trial dataset. We evaluate the performance of the UNet-GNN models with two types of graph adjacency and compare it with the baseline UNet.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMachine Learning in Medical Imaging : 10th International Workshop, MLMI 2019, Held in Conjunction with MICCAI 2019, Shenzhen, China, October 13, 2019, Proceedings
PublisherSpringer
Publication date22 Aug 2019
Pages583-591
ISBN (Print)978-3-030-32691-3
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-030-32692-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Aug 2019
Event10th International Workshop on Machine Learning in Medical Imaging - Shenzhen, China
Duration: 13 Oct 201913 Oct 2019

Conference

Conference10th International Workshop on Machine Learning in Medical Imaging
LandChina
ByShenzhen
Periode13/10/201913/10/2019
SeriesLecture Notes in Computer Science
VolumeLNCS 11861
ISSN0302-9743

Links

ID: 229018707