UNet Architectures in Multiplanar Volumetric Segmentation -- Validated on Three Knee MRI Cohorts

Abstract

UNet has become the gold standard method for segmenting 2D medical images that any new method must be validated against. However, in recent years, several variations of the seminal UNet have been proposed with promising results. However, there is no clear consensus on the generalisability of these architectures, and UNet currently remains the methodological gold standard. The purpose of this study was to evaluate some of the most promising UNet-inspired architectures for 3D segmentation. For the segmentation of 3D scans, UNet-inspired methods are also dominant, but there is a larger variety across applications. By evaluating the architectures in a different dimensionality, embedded in a different method, and for a different task, we aimed to evaluate if any of these UNet-alternatives are promising as a new gold standard that generalizes even better than UNet. Specifically, we investigated the architectures as the central 2D segmentation core in the Multi-Planar Unet 3D segmentation method that previously demonstrated excellent generalization in the MICCAI Segmentation Decathlon. Generalisability can be demonstrated if a promising UNet-variant consistently outperforms UNet in this setting. For this purpose, we evaluated four architectures for cartilage segmentation from three different cohorts with knee MRIs.