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@ARTICLE{Fortin:281832,
author = {Fortin, Marc-Antoine and Kristoffersen, Anne Louise and
Larsen, Michael Staff and Lamalle, Laurent and Stirnberg,
Rüdiger and Goa, Pal Erik},
title = {{GOUHFI}: {A} novel contrast- and resolution-agnostic
segmentation tool for ultra-high-field {MRI}.},
journal = {Imaging neuroscience},
volume = {3},
issn = {2837-6056},
address = {Cambridge, MA},
publisher = {MIT Press},
reportid = {DZNE-2025-01213},
pages = {IMAG.a.960},
year = {2025},
abstract = {Recently, ultra-high-field MRI (UHF-MRI) has become more
available and one of the best tools to study the brain for
neuroscientists. One common step in quantitative
neuroimaging is to segment the brain into several regions,
which has been done using software packages such as
FreeSurfer, FastSurferVINN, or SynthSeg. However, the
differences between UHF-MRI and 1.5T or 3T images are such
that the automatic segmentation techniques optimized at
these field strengths usually produce unsatisfactory
segmentation results for UHF images. Thus, it has been
particularly challenging to perform region-based
quantitative analyses as typically done with 1.5-3T data,
considerably limiting the potential of UHF-MRI until now.
Ultimately, this underscores the crucial need for developing
new automatic segmentation techniques designed to handle UHF
images. Hence, we propose a novel Deep Learning (DL)-based
segmentation technique called GOUHFI: Generalized and
Optimized segmentation tool for ultra-high-field images,
designed to segment UHF images of various contrasts and
resolutions. For training, we used a total of 206 label maps
from four datasets acquired at 3T, 7T, and 9.4T. In contrast
to most DL strategies, we used a previously proposed domain
randomization approach, where synthetic images generated
from the 206 label maps were used for training a 3D U-Net.
This approach enables the DL model to become contrast
agnostic. GOUHFI was tested on seven different datasets and
compared with existing techniques such as FastSurferVINN,
SynthSeg, and CEREBRUM-7T. GOUHFI was able to segment the
six contrasts and seven resolutions tested at 3T, 7T, and
9.4T. Average Dice-Sørensen Similarity Coefficient (DSC)
scores of 0.90, 0.90, and 0.93 were computed against the
ground truth segmentations at 3T, 7T, and 9.4T,
respectively. These results demonstrated GOUHFI's superior
performance to competing approaches at each resolution and
contrast level tested. Moreover, GOUHFI demonstrated
impressive resistance to the typical inhomogeneities
observed at UHF-MRI, making it a new powerful segmentation
tool allowing the usual quantitative analysis pipelines
performed at lower fields to be applied also at UHF.
Ultimately, GOUHFI is a promising new segmentation tool,
being the first of its kind proposing a contrast- and
resolution-agnostic alternative for UHF-MRI without
requiring fine tuning or retraining, making it the
forthcoming alternative for neuroscientists working with
UHF-MRI or even lower field strengths.},
keywords = {UHF-MRI (Other) / brain segmentation (Other) / contrast and
resolution agnosticity (Other) / deep learning (Other) /
domain randomization (Other) / neuroimaging (Other)},
cin = {AG Stöcker},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)1013026},
pnm = {354 - Disease Prevention and Healthy Aging (POF4-354)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-354},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:41158555},
pmc = {pmc:PMC12556684},
doi = {10.1162/IMAG.a.960},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/281832},
}