Multi-organ segmentation of organ-at-risk (OAR's) of head and neck site using ensemble learning technique

IntroductionThis paper presents a novel approach to automate the segmentation of Organ-at-Risk (OAR) in Head and Neck cancer patients using Deep Learning models combined with Ensemble Learning techniques. The study aims to improve the accuracy and efficiency of OAR segmentation, essential for radiotherapy treatment planning.MethodsThe dataset comprised computed tomography (CT) scans of 182 patients in DICOM format, obtained from an institutional image bank. Experienced Radiation Oncologists manually segmented seven OARs for each scan. Two models, 3D U-Net and 3D DenseNet-FCN, were trained on reduced CT scans (192 × 192 x 128) due to memory limitations. Ensemble Learning techniques were employed to enhance accuracy and segmentation metrics. Testing was conducted on 78 patients from the institutional dataset and an open-source dataset (TCGA-HNSC and Head-Neck Cetuximab) consisting of 31 patient scans.ResultsUsing the Ensemble Learning technique, the average dice similarity coefficient for OARs ranged from 0.990 to 0.994, indicating high segmentation accuracy. The 95% Hausdorff distance (mm) ranged from 1.3 to 2.1, demonstrating precise segmentation boundaries.ConclusionThe proposed automated segmentation method achieved efficient and accurate OAR segmentation, surpassing human expert performance in terms of time and accuracy.Implications for practiceThis approach has implications for improving treatment planning and patient care in radiotherapy. By reducing manual segmentation reliance, the proposed method offers significant time savings and potential improvements in treatment planning efficiency and precision for head and neck cancer patients.