Validation of body composition parameters extracted via deep learning-based segmentation from routine computed tomographies
Felix O. Hofmann, Christian Heiliger, Tengis Tschaidse, Stefanie Jarmusch, Liv A Auhage, Ughur Aghamaliyev, Alena B. Baumann, Tobias S. Schiergens, Hanno Nieß, Matthias Ilmer, Jens Werner, Bernhard W. Renz
Abstract
Abstract 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 (SM total ), psoas muscle tissue (SM psoas ), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were quantified both manually and using the pipeline. Automated and manual measurements showed strong correlations (SM psoas : 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. SM psoas measurements showed substantial variability depending on slice selection, whereas SM total , averaged across all L3 levels, provided greater measurement stability. Overall, SM total performed comparably to SM psoas 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 SM total 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.