ISLES challenge: U-shaped convolution neural network with dilated convolution for 3D stroke lesion segmentation

Abstract

In this paper, we propose the algorithm for stroke lesion segmentation based on a deep convolutional neural network (CNN). The model is based on U-shaped CNN, which has been applied successfully to other medical image segmentation tasks. The network architecture was derived from the model presented in Isensee et al. [1] and is capable of processing whole 3D images. The model incorporates the convolution layers through upsampled filters – also known as dilated convolution. This change enlarges filter’s field of the view and allows the net to integrate larger context into the computation. We add the dilated convolution into different parts of network architecture and study the impact on the overall model performance. The best model which uses the dilated convolution in the input of the net outperforms the original architecture in nearly all used evaluation metrics. The code and trained models can be found on the GitHub website: http://github.com/tureckova/ISLES2018/.