Deep learning for vessel segmentation and flow analysis to identify clusters associated with adverse outcomes in a fontan patient registry

T Tina Yao N Nicole St. Clair M Madeline Gong G Gabriel F. Miller M Michael Quail S Shahin Moledina A Adam L. Dorfman M Mark A. Fogel R Rajesh Krishnamurthy C Christopher Z. Lam J Joshua D. Robinson T Timothy C. Slesnick J Justin Weigand J Jennifer A. Steeden R Rahul H. Rathod V Vivek Muthurangu M Manish Aggarwal T Tarek Alsaied A Ashish Doshi M Matthew D. Files S Sanjeet Hegde A Andrew Hoyer T Tiffanie Johnson Y Yue-Hin Loke A Alison L. Marsden L Laura J. Olivieri F Francesca Raimondi P Preeti Ramachandran P Pierangelo Renella M Markus S. Renno G Garg Ruchira A Amee Shah J Jonathan H. Soslow (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville) J Jeremy Steele K Kenan W.D. Stern B Bijoy Thattaliyath A Aswathy Vaikom House

Abstract

Abstract We introduce a deep learning framework comprising two models for automated segmentation (DCS) and large-scale deep temporal clustering (DTC) within a registry of single ventricle patients. The DCS model performs simultaneous classification and segmentation of velocity-encoded phase-contrast magnetic resonance (PCMR) data for five individual blood vessels, the left and right pulmonary arteries, aorta, superior vena cava, and inferior vena cava. Trained, validated and tested on 260 cardiac MRI exams (each containing 5 PCMR scans), it demonstrated a median Dice score of 0.91 on 50 unseen test exams. Integrated into a fully automated pipeline, the DCS model processed over 4500 registry exams without manual intervention, reaching 98% classification accuracy and 90% segmentation accuracy in cases with all five vessels present. Flow curves obtained from successful segmentations were used to train the DTC model, which performs deep temporal clustering to uncover unique flow patterns. Survival analysis showed that these groups were statistically correlated to increased risk of mortality or transplantation and to liver disease, highlighting the clinical relevance of the proposed framework.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 16, Issue 1
Published March 04, 2026
ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher Nature Portfolio

Journal Info

Scientific Reports

Nature Portfolio

ISSN: 2045-2322 Open Access Life Sciences

Authors (37)

T

Tina Yao

N

Nicole St. Clair

M

Madeline Gong

G

Gabriel F. Miller

M

Michael Quail

S

Shahin Moledina

A

Adam L. Dorfman

M

Mark A. Fogel

R

Rajesh Krishnamurthy

C

Christopher Z. Lam

J

Joshua D. Robinson

T

Timothy C. Slesnick

J

Justin Weigand

J

Jennifer A. Steeden

R

Rahul H. Rathod

V

Vivek Muthurangu

M

Manish Aggarwal

T

Tarek Alsaied

A

Ashish Doshi

M

Matthew D. Files

S

Sanjeet Hegde

A

Andrew Hoyer

T

Tiffanie Johnson

Y

Yue-Hin Loke

A

Alison L. Marsden

L

Laura J. Olivieri

F

Francesca Raimondi

P

Preeti Ramachandran

P

Pierangelo Renella

M

Markus S. Renno

G

Garg Ruchira

A

Amee Shah

J

Jonathan H. Soslow

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville

J

Jeremy Steele

K

Kenan W.D. Stern

B

Bijoy Thattaliyath

A

Aswathy Vaikom House