Weizman Lior, Helfer Dina, Ben Bashat Dafna, Pratt Li-Tal, Joskowicz Leo, Constantini Shlomi, Shofty Ben, Ben Sira Liat
School of Engineering and Computer Science and The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel,
Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2014 Jul;9(4):683-93. doi: 10.1007/s11548-013-0961-0. Epub 2013 Nov 20.
Volumetric measurements of plexiform neurofibromas (PNs) are time consuming and error prone, as they require the delineation of the PN boundaries, which is mostly impractical in the daily clinical setup. Accurate volumetric measurements are seldom performed for these tumors mainly due to their great dispersion, size and multiple locations. This paper presents a semiautomatic method for segmentation of PN from STIR MRI scans.
Plexiform neurofibroma interactive segmentation tool (PNist) is a new tool to segment PNs in STIR MRI scans. The method is based on histogram tumor models computed from a training set.
Experimental results from 28 datasets show an average absolute volume difference of 6.8 % with an average user time of approximately 7 min versus more than 13 min with manual delineation. In complex cases, the PNist user time is less than half in compared to state-of-the-art tools.
PNist is a new method for the semiautomatic segmentation of PN lesions. Its simplicity and reliability make it unique among other state-of-the-art methods. It has the potential to become a clinical tool that allows the reliable evaluation of PN burden and progression.
丛状神经纤维瘤（PNs）的体积测量既耗时又容易出错，因为这需要勾勒出PN的边界，而这在日常临床环境中大多不切实际。由于这些肿瘤分布广泛、大小不一且位置多样，很少对其进行精确的体积测量。本文提出了一种从短TI反转恢复（STIR）磁共振成像（MRI）扫描中半自动分割PN的方法。
丛状神经纤维瘤交互式分割工具（PNist）是一种在STIR MRI扫描中分割PN的新工具。该方法基于从训练集中计算出的直方图肿瘤模型。
来自28个数据集的实验结果显示，平均绝对体积差异为6.8%，用户平均用时约7分钟，而手动勾勒边界则需要超过13分钟。在复杂病例中，与现有最先进工具相比，PNist的用户用时不到其一半。
PNist是一种用于PN病变半自动分割的新方法。其简单性和可靠性使其在其他现有最先进方法中独树一帜。它有潜力成为一种能够可靠评估PN负荷和进展情况的临床工具。
