An Automated Broncho-Arterial (BA) Pair Segmentation Process and Assessment of BA Ratios in Children with Bronchiectasis Using Lung HRCT Scans: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Bronchiectasis in children can progress to a severe lung condition if not diagnosed and treated early. The radiological diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of bronchiectasis is an increased broncho-arterial (BA) ratio. From high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans, the BA pairs must be detected first to derive the BA ratio. This study aims to identify potential BA pairs from HRCT scans of children undertaken to evaluate suppurative lung disease through an automated approach. After segmenting the lung regions, the HRCT scans are cleaned using a histogram analysis-based approach followed by a potential arteries identification process comprising four conditions based on imaging features. Potential arteries and their connected components are extracted, and potential bronchi are identified. Finally, the coordinates of potential arteries and potential bronchi are matched as the last step of BA pairs extraction. A total of 8–50 BA pairs are detected for each patient. Additionally, the area and several diameters of the bronchi and arteries are measured, and BA ratios based on these are calculated. Through this approach, the BA pairs of a CT scan datasets are detected and utilizing a deep learning model, a high classification test accuracy of 98.53% is achieved, validating the robustness of the proposed BA detection approach. The results show that visible BA pairs can be identified and segmented automatically, and the BA ratio calculated may help diagnose bronchiectasis with less effort and time.