Title
Manual segmentation versus semi-automated segmentation for quantifying vestibular schwannoma volume on MRI
Abstract
Management of vestibular schwannoma (VS) is based on tumour size as observed on T1 MRI scans with contrast agent injection. The current clinical practice is to measure the diameter of the tumour in its largest dimension. It has been shown that volumetric measurement is more accurate and more reliable as a measure of VS size. The reference approach to achieve such volumetry is to manually segment the tumour, which is a time intensive task. We suggest that semi-automated segmentation may be a clinically applicable solution to this problem and that it could replace linear measurements as the clinical standard. Using high-quality software available for academic purposes, we ran a comparative study of manual versus semi-automated segmentation of VS on MRI with 5 clinicians and scientists. We gathered both quantitative and qualitative data to compare the two approaches; including segmentation time, segmentation effort and segmentation accuracy. We found that the selected semi-automated segmentation approach is significantly faster (167 s vs 479 s, $$p<0.001$$ ), less temporally and physically demanding and has approximately equal performance when compared with manual segmentation, with some improvements in accuracy. There were some limitations, including algorithmic unpredictability and error, which produced more frustration and increased mental effort in comparison with manual segmentation. We suggest that semi-automated segmentation could be applied clinically for volumetric measurement of VS on MRI. In future, the generic software could be refined for use specifically for VS segmentation, thereby improving accuracy.
Year
DOI
Venue
2020
10.1007/s11548-020-02222-y
International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Segmentation, Vestibular schwannoma, Neuroimaging, Machine learning, Imaging
Journal
15
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
9
1861-6410
1
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.36
10
9
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
McGrath Hari110.36
Peichao Li242.14
Dorent Reuben310.36
Bradford Robert410.36
Saeed Shakeel510.36
Sotirios Bisdas631.52
Sébastien Ourselin72499237.61
Shapey Jonathan810.36
Tom Vercauteren91956108.68