TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hofmann, Felix O
AU  - Heiliger, Christian
AU  - Tschaidse, Tengis
AU  - Jarmusch, Stefanie
AU  - Auhage, Liv A
AU  - Aghamaliyev, Ughur
AU  - Gesenhues, Alena B
AU  - Schiergens, Tobias S
AU  - Niess, Hanno
AU  - Ilmer, Matthias
AU  - Werner, Jens
AU  - Renz, Bernhard W
TI  - Validation of body composition parameters extracted via deep learning-based segmentation from routine computed tomographies.
JO  - Scientific reports
VL  - 15
IS  - 1
SN  - 2045-2322
CY  - [London]
PB  - Springer Nature
M1  - DKFZ-2025-00745
SP  - 11909
PY  - 2025
AB  - Sarcopenia and body composition metrics are strongly associated with patient outcomes. In this study, we developed and validated a flexible, open-access pipeline integrating available deep learning-based segmentation models with pre- and postprocessing steps to extract body composition measures from routine computed tomography (CT) scans. In 337 surgical oncology patients, total skeletal muscle tissue (SMtotal), psoas muscle tissue (SMpsoas), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were quantified both manually and using the pipeline. Automated and manual measurements showed strong correlations (SMpsoas: r = 0.776, VAT: r = 0.993, SAT: r = 0.984; all P < 0.001). Measurement discrepancies primarily resulted from segmentation errors, anatomical anomalies or image irregularities. SMpsoas measurements showed substantial variability depending on slice selection, whereas SMtotal, averaged across all L3 levels, provided greater measurement stability. Overall, SMtotal performed comparably to SMpsoas in predicting overall survival (OS). In summary, body composition measures derived from the pipeline strongly correlated with manual measurements and were prognostic for OS. The increased stability of SMtotal across vertebral levels suggests it may serve as a more reliable alternative to psoas-based assessments. Future studies should address the identified areas of improvement to enhance the accuracy of automated segmentation models.
KW  - Humans
KW  - Deep Learning
KW  - Body Composition
KW  - Tomography, X-Ray Computed: methods
KW  - Male
KW  - Female
KW  - Aged
KW  - Middle Aged
KW  - Psoas Muscles: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Muscle, Skeletal: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Intra-Abdominal Fat: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Sarcopenia: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Aged, 80 and over
KW  - Subcutaneous Fat: diagnostic imaging
KW  - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted: methods
KW  - Body composition (Other)
KW  - Computed tomography (Other)
KW  - Oncology (Other)
KW  - Sarcopenia (Other)
KW  - Tissue segmentation (Other)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:40195401
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41598-025-96238-6
UR  - https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/300292
ER  -