Overview of modern digital diagnostic image markup tools

Abstract

Background. In modern medicine, artificial intelligence algorithms are being actively introduced, for testing and training of which a large amount of labeled datasets is required. Software for labeling (annotation) of digital diagnostic images is a necessary element when creating datasets.
 Aim. To review the capabilities and comparative analysis of the functionality of the most common available software for annotating digital diagnostic images.
 Material and methods. Five free and one commercial software product for annotation of digital diagnostic images participated in the comparative analysis. When testing the marking process on medical images for several target types of pathology, the usability of the graphical user interface and functionality was evaluated. The functionality of the software products has been tested by radiologists with over 5 years of experience. In addition, a review of semi-automatic segmentation methods implemented in the studied software products was carried out. As initial medical images, datasets of computed tomography studies obtained from open sources, were used.
 Results. Comparison of software functionality for annotation of digital diagnostic images was made: supported formats; loading, presenting and saving original images and annotation data; the possibility of visualization of medical images; annotation tools. The algorithms underlying semi-automatic segmentation methods were studied and systematized. The requirements for the basic functionality of software for labeling digital diagnostic images have been formulated. The results obtained create a systematic basis for developing recommendations for radiologists on the choice and use of digital diagnostic image marking tools.
 Conclusion. The most complete functionality in the field of segmentation of digital diagnostic images among the considered free software has 3D Slicer; in the case of annotation for detection tasks, it is convenient to use the Supervisely, CVAT platforms; for automatic segmentation of some types of pathology and organs, 3D Slicer extensions and ready-made models in Medseg can be used.