Fully automated assessment of the future liver remnant in a blood-free setting via CT before major hepatectomy via deep learning

Abstract

Objectives To develop and validate a deep learning (DL) model for automated segmentation of hepatic and portal veins, and apply the model in blood-free future liver remnant (FLR) assessments via CT before major hepatectomy. Methods 3-dimensional 3D U-Net models were developed for the automatic segmentation of hepatic veins and portal veins on contrast-enhanced CT images. A total of 170 patients treated from January 2018 to March 2019 were included. 3D U-Net models were trained and tested under various liver conditions. The Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and volumetric similarity (VS) were used to evaluate the segmentation accuracy. The use of quantitative volumetry for evaluating resection was compared between blood-filled and blood-free settings and between manual and automated segmentation. Results The DSC values in the test dataset for hepatic veins and portal veins were 0.66 ± 0.08 (95% CI: (0.65, 0.68)) and 0.67 ± 0.07 (95% CI: (0.66, 0.69)), the VS values were 0.80 ± 0.10 (95% CI: (0.79, 0.84)) and 0.74 ± 0.08 (95% CI: (0.73, 0.76)), respectively No significant differences in FLR, FLR% assessments, or the percentage of major hepatectomy patients were noted between the blood-filled and blood-free settings (p = 0.67, 0.59 and 0.99 for manual methods, p = 0.66, 0.99 and 0.99 for automated methods, respectively) according to the use of manual and automated segmentation methods. Conclusion Fully automated segmentation of hepatic veins and portal veins and FLR assessment via blood-free CT before major hepatectomy are accurate and applicable in clinical cases involving the use of DL. Critical relevance statement Our fully automatic models could segment hepatic veins, portal veins, and future liver remnant in blood-free setting on CT images before major hepatectomy with reliable outcomes. Key Points Fully automatic segmentation of hepatic veins and portal veins was feasible in clinical practice. Fully automatic volumetry of future liver remnant (FLR)% in a blood-free setting was robust. No significant differences in FLR% assessments were noted between the blood-filled and blood-free settings. Graphical Abstract