Medical image analysis is performed by analyzing images obtained by medical imaging systems to solve clinical problems. The purpose is to extract effective information and improve the level of clinical diagnosis. In recent years, automatic segmentation based on deep learning (DL) methods has been widely used, where a neural network can automatically learn image features, which is in sharp contrast with the traditional manual learning method. U-net is one of the most important semantic segmentation frameworks for a convolutional neural network (CNN). It is widely used in the medical image analysis domain for lesion segmentation, anatomical segmentation, and classification. The advantage of this network framework is that it can not only accurately segment the desired feature target and effectively process and objectively evaluate medical images but also help to improve accuracy in the diagnosis by medical images. Therefore, this article presents a literature review of medical image segmentation based on U-net, focusing on the successful segmentation experience of U-net for different lesion regions in six medical imaging systems. Along with the latest advances in DL, this article introduces the method of combining the original U-net architecture with deep learning and a method for improving the U-net network.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma is a cancer with many new cases and the highest mortality rate. Chemotherapy is the most commonly used method for the clinical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Natural products have become clinically important chemotherapeutic drugs due to their great potential for pharmacological development. Many sesquiterpene lactone compounds have been proven to have antitumor effects on hepatocellular carcinoma. Objective: Britanin is a sesquiterpene lactone compound that can be considered for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. The present study aimed to investigate the antitumor effect of britanin. Methods: BEL 7402 and HepG2 cells were used to study the cytotoxicity and antitumor effects of britanin. Preliminary studies on the nuclear factor kappa B pathway were conducted by western blot analysis. A BEL 7402-luc subcutaneous tumor model was established for the in vivo antitumor studies of britanin. In vivo bioluminescence imaging was conducted to monitor changes in tumor size. Results: The results of the cytotoxicity analysis showed that the IC50 values for britanin in BEL 7402 and HepG2 cells were 2.702μM and 6.006μM, respectively. The results of the colony formation demonstrated that the number of cells in a colony was reduced significantly after britanin treatment. And the results of transwell migration assays showed that the migration ability of tumor cells was significantly weakened after treatment with britanin. Tumor size measurements and staining results showed that tumor size was inhibited after britanin treatment. The western blot analysis results showed the inhibition of p65 protein expression and reduced the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax after treatment. Conclusion: A series of in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that britanin had good antitumor effects and provided an option for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.

GMBP1 conjugated manganese oxide nanoplates for in vivo monitoring multidrug resistance of gastric cancer through magnetic resonance imaging.

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Objectives Britanin was explored for the antitumour effect on gastric cancer, which is a sesquiterpene lactone (SL) extracted from Inula japonica. Methods In the present study, cell viability assays were performed to evaluate the antiproliferation effect of Britanin on gastric cancer cells. Tumour development in BGC‐823 cell‐bearing nude mice was monitored in real‐time after Britanin treatment via a bioluminescent imaging method. Western blotting analysis and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays detected proteins associated with the nuclear factor (NF)‐κB signalling pathway. Key findings Britanin can suppress the proliferation of gastric cancer cells in vitro and the growth of tumours in vivo. In the treatment group, decreased levels of p65 and phosphorylated (p)‐p65 were observed. This indicated that NF‐κB plays an important role in the antitumour effect of Britanin. Furthermore, considering the additional role of NF‐κB in the immune system, the levels of the downstream molecules interleukin (IL)‐2 and the cytokine IL‐10 were subsequently determined in vivo. An increase in the IL‐2 level and a decrease in the IL‐10 level indicated that Britanin elicited an enhanced immune response. Conclusions Britanin may be a promising candidate for gastric cancer chemotherapy, and its anticancer effect likely depends on an NF‐κB‐mediated immune response.

Combination chemotherapy is a routine treatment for esophageal cancer, but some shortcomings, such as drug toxicity and side effects, greatly limit the clinical application of combination therapy. To overcome these shortcomings, we have developed a mesoporous silica nanoparticle system that was used to load doxorubicin and β-elemene. β-elemene was encapsulated in the pore of mesoporous silica nanoparticle and doxorubicin was electrostatically adsorbed on the surface of mesoporous silica nanoparticle by hyaluronic acid to construct dual drugs synergistic nanoparticles (bMED NPs, ∼77.15 nm). In vitro studies demonstrated that bMED NPs had a good treatment effect in esophageal cancer cell lines. In vivo fluorescence imaging results demonstrated that bMED NPs could accumulate in tumor sites and achieve in vivo long-term circulation and continuous drug release. In addition, bMED NPs exhibited significant antitumor effects in the esophageal cancer mouse model, which may provide a great platform for esophageal cancer chemotherapy.

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