SEGMENTATION OF MULTIPHASE CT IMAGES USING AN ENSEMBLE OF RESUNET MODELS

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17308/sait/1995-5499/2025/3/140-152

Keywords:

segmentation, ResUNet, Vision Transformer, model ensembles, computed tomography, contrast phases, medical images

Abstract

Automated segmentation of anatomical structures in multiphase computed tomography (CT) images is a critically important task for successful clinical diagnosis. This is especially relevant for the early detection and precise localization of tumors, which allows for timely initiation of treatment and improves patient recovery prospects. The relevance of research in this area is due to the complexities arising from the high degree of variability of structures across different contrast phases. Direct channel concatenation can lead to excessive model complexity and significant computational costs, while standard ensemble methods often ignore non-obvious spatial interrelationships between contrast phases. Thus, the scientific novelty lies in the development of a new Vision Transformer (ViT)-based ensemble approach capable of incorporating contextual information. The proposed method integrates predictions from ResUNet models trained on different contrast phases. The following results were obtained during the study: the best individual ResUNet models achieved a Dice metric of 0.64. Simple averaging of predictions yielded only a small improvement to Dice = 0.66. In contrast, the proposed ViT-based ensemble approach showed significantly higher results — Dice = 0.80. T he obtained results confirm the effectiveness of using transformers for model ensembling, and demonstrate their ability to account for global context. Although the method was tested on a dataset of hepatocellular carcinoma of the liver, the proposed ensemble architecture can be applied in other areas requiring intelligent fusion of model outputs.

Author Biographies

  • Aleksandr V. Cheremiskin, Voronezh State University

    First year postgraduate student of the Department of Mathematical Methods of Operations Research

  • Irina L. Kashirina, Russian Technical University MIREA, Voronezh State University

    Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor, Professor of the Department of Mathematical Methods of Operations Research of the Voronezh State University; Professor of the Department of Artificial Intelligence Technologies of the Russia Technical University MIREA

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Published

2025-09-26

Issue

Section

Intelligent Information Systems, Data Analysis and Machine Learning

How to Cite

SEGMENTATION OF MULTIPHASE CT IMAGES USING AN ENSEMBLE OF RESUNET MODELS. (2025). Proceedings of Voronezh State University. Series: Systems Analysis and Information Technologies, 3, 140-152. https://doi.org/10.17308/sait/1995-5499/2025/3/140-152

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