Deep learning models for deriving optimised measures of fat and muscle mass from MRI.
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Embargo End Date
2025-09-30
ICR Authors
Authors
Thomas, B
Ali, MA
Ali, FMH
Chung, A
Joshi, M
Maiguma-Wilson, S
Reiff, G
Said, H
Zalmay, P
Berks, M
Blackledge, MD
O'Connor, JPB
Ali, MA
Ali, FMH
Chung, A
Joshi, M
Maiguma-Wilson, S
Reiff, G
Said, H
Zalmay, P
Berks, M
Blackledge, MD
O'Connor, JPB
Document Type
Journal Article
Date
2025-07-17
Date Accepted
2025-06-17
Abstract
Fat and muscle mass are potential biomarkers of wellbeing and disease in oncology, but clinical measurement methods vary considerably. Here we evaluate the accuracy, precision and ability to track change for multiple deep learning (DL) models that quantify fat and muscle mass from abdominal MRI. Specifically, subcutaneous fat (SF), intra-abdominal fat (VF), external muscle (EM) and psoas muscle (PM) were evaluated using 15 convolutional neural network (CNN)-based and 4 transformer-based deep learning model architectures. There was negligible difference in the accuracy of human observers and all deep learning models in delineating SF or EM. Both of these tissues had excellent repeatability of their delineation. VF was measured most accurately by the human observers, then by CNN-based models, which outperformed transformer-based models. In distinction, PM delineation accuracy and repeatability was poor for all assessments. Repeatability limits of agreement determined when changes measured in individual patients were due to real change rather than test-retest variation. In summary, DL model accuracy and precision of delineating fat and muscle volumes varies between CNN-based and transformer-based models, between different tissues and in some cases with gender. These factors should be considered when investigators deploy deep learning methods to estimate biomarkers of fat and muscle mass.
Citation
Scientific Reports,
Rights
Source Title
Scientific Reports
Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
ISSN
2045-2322
eISSN
2045-2322
Collections
Research Team
Quant Biomed Imaging