PET/CT-based 3D multi-class semantic segmentation of ovarian cancer and the stability of the extracted radiomics features

Accurate segmentation of ovarian cancer (OC) lesions in PET/CT images is essential for effective disease management, yet manual segmentation for radiomics analysis is labor-intensive and time-consuming. This study introduces the application of a 3D U-Net deep learning model, leveraging advanced 3D networks, for multi-class semantic segmentation of OC in PET/CT images and assesses the stability of the extracted radiomics features. Utilizing a dataset of 3120 PET/CT images from 39 OC patients, the dataset was divided into training (70%), validation (15%), and test (15%) subsets to optimize and evaluate the model's performance. The 3D U-Net model, especially with a VGG16 backbone, achieved notable segmentation accuracy with a Dice score of 0.74, Precision of 0.76, and Recall of 0.78. Additionally, the study demonstrated high stability in radiomics features, with over 85% of PET and 84% of CT image features showing high intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs > 0.8). These results underscore the potential of automated 3D U-Net-based segmentation to significantly enhance OC diagnosis and treatment planning. The reliability of the extracted radiomics features from automated segmentation supports its application in clinical decision-making and personalized medicine. This research marks a significant advancement in oncology diagnostics, providing a robust and efficient method for segmenting OC lesions in PET/CT images. By addressing the challenges of manual segmentation and demonstrating the effectiveness of 3D networks, this study contributes to the growing body of evidence supporting the application of artificial intelligence in improving diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes in oncology.