Joint segmentation of sternocleidomastoid and skeletal muscles in computed tomography images using a multiclass learning approach

Deep-learning-based methods can improve robustness against individual variations in computed tomography (CT) images of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, which is a challenge when using conventional methods based on probabilistic atlases are used for automatic segmentation. Thus, this study proposes a novel multiclass learning approach for the joint segmentation of the sternocleidomastoid and skeletal muscles in CT images, and it employs a two-dimensional U-Net architecture. The proposed method concurrently learns and segmented segments the sternocleidomastoid muscle and the entire skeletal musculature. Consequently, three-dimensional segmentation results are generated for both muscle groups. Experiments conducted on a dataset of 30 body CT images demonstrated segmentation accuracies of 82.94% and 92.73% for the sternocleidomastoid muscle and entire skeletal muscle compartment, respectively. These results outperformed those of conventional methods, such as the single-region learning of a target muscle and multiclass learning of specific muscle pairs. Moreover, the multiclass learning paradigm facilitated a robust segmentation performance regardless of the input image range. This highlights the method’s potential for cases that present muscle atrophy or reduced muscle strength. The proposed method exhibits promising capabilities for the high-accuracy joint segmentation of the sternocleidomastoid and skeletal muscles and is effective in recognizing skeletal muscles, thus, it holds promise for integration into computer-aided diagnostic systems for comprehensive musculoskeletal analysis. These findings are expected to enhance medical image analysis techniques and their applications in clinical decision support systems.