Comprehensive Segmentation of Gray Matter Structures on T1-Weighted Brain MRI: A Comparative Study of Convolutional Neural Network, Convolutional Neural Network Hybrid-Transformer or -Mamba Architectures

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recent advances in deep learning have shown promising results in medical image analysis and segmentation. However, most brain MRI segmentation models are limited by the size of their data sets and/or the number of structures they can identify. This study evaluates the performance of 6 advanced deep learning models in segmenting 122 brain structures from T1-weighted MRI scans, aiming to identify the most effective model for clinical and research applications.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1510 T1-weighted MRIs were used to compare 6 deep learning models for the segmentation of 122 distinct gray matter structures: nnU-Net, SegResNet, SwinUNETR, UNETR, U-Mamba_BOT, and U-Mamba_ Enc. Each model was rigorously tested for accuracy by using the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and the 95th percentile Hausdorff distance (HD95). Additionally, the volume of each structure was calculated and compared between normal controls (NCs) and patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).

RESULTS: U-Mamba_Bot achieved the highest performance with a median DSC of 0.9112 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.8957, 0.9250). nnU-Net achieved a median DSC of 0.9027 [IQR: 0.8847, 0.9205], and had the highest HD95 of 1.392 [IQR: 1.174, 2.029]. The value of each HD95 (<3 mm) indicates its superior capability in capturing detailed brain structures accurately. Following segmentation, volume calculations were performed, and the resultant volumes of NCs and patients with AD were compared. The volume changes observed in 13 brain substructures were all consistent with those reported in existing literature, reinforcing the reliability of the segmentation outputs.

CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the efficacy of U-Mamba_Bot as a robust tool for detailed brain structure segmentation in T1-weighted MRI scans. The congruence of our volumetric analysis with the literature further validates the potential of advanced deep learning models to enhance the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. Future research should consider larger data sets to validate these findings further and explore the applicability of these models in other neurologic conditions.