Medical Image Segmentation Using Deep Learning: A Survey

TL;DR

This survey comprehensively reviews deep learning methods for medical image segmentation, focusing on supervised and weakly supervised approaches, and introduces a novel multi-level classification structure for organizing the literature.

Contribution

It presents a new multi-level classification of deep learning techniques in medical image segmentation and emphasizes supervised and weakly supervised methods, excluding unsupervised approaches.

Findings

Classifies literature from coarse to fine levels for better understanding

Analyzes backbone networks, network blocks, and loss functions for supervised methods

Investigates data augmentation, transfer learning, and interactive segmentation for weakly supervised methods

Abstract

Deep learning has been widely used for medical image segmentation and a large number of papers has been presented recording the success of deep learning in the field. In this paper, we present a comprehensive thematic survey on medical image segmentation using deep learning techniques. This paper makes two original contributions. Firstly, compared to traditional surveys that directly divide literatures of deep learning on medical image segmentation into many groups and introduce literatures in detail for each group, we classify currently popular literatures according to a multi-level structure from coarse to fine. Secondly, this paper focuses on supervised and weakly supervised learning approaches, without including unsupervised approaches since they have been introduced in many old surveys and they are not popular currently. For supervised learning approaches, we analyze literatures in three aspects: the selection of backbone networks, the design of network blocks, and the improvement of loss functions. For weakly supervised learning approaches, we investigate literature according to data augmentation, transfer learning, and interactive segmentation, separately. Compared to existing surveys, this survey classifies the literatures very differently from before and is more convenient for readers to understand the relevant rationale and will guide them to think of appropriate improvements in medical image segmentation based on deep learning approaches.