title: Assessment of Inter-Expert Variability and of an Automated Segmentation Method of 40 and 60 MHz IVUS Images of Coronary Arteries.
abstract: The objectives were to compare the performance of a segmentation algorithm, based on the minimization of an uncertainty function, to delineate contours of external elastic membrane and lumen of human coronary arteries imaged with 40 and 60 MHz IVUS, and to use values of this function to delineate portions of contours with highest uncertainty. For 8 patients, 40 and 60 MHz IVUS coronary data acquired pre- and post-interventions were used, for a total of 68,516 images. Manual segmentations of contours (on 2312 images) performed by experts at three core laboratories were the gold-standards. Inter-expert variability was highest on contour points with largest values of the uncertainty function (p < 0.001). Inter-expert variability was lower at 60 than 40 MHz for external elastic membrane (p = 0.013) and lumen (p = 0.024). Average differences in plaque (and atheroma) burden between algorithmic contours and experts' contours were within inter-expert variability (p < 0.001).
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biorheology and Medical Ultrasonics, University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM), Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Destrempes
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biorheology and Medical Ultrasonics, University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM), Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Roy Cardinal
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Cardiology, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saijo
authors.affiliation: Department of Hemodynamics and Interventional Cardiology, Hospices Civils de Lyon and Claude-Bernard University Lyon 1, INSERM Unit 886, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Finet
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tardif
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biorheology and Medical Ultrasonics, University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM), Montreal, Québec, Canada.|Department of Radiology, Radio-Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4957-4844
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cloutier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001331:Automation; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged