Computer Science ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (9): 16-24.doi: 10.11896/jsjkx.250300159

• Intelligent Medical Engineering • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Deep Learning-based Kidney Segmentation in Ultrasound Imaging:Current Trends and Challenges

YIN Shi1, SHI Zhenyang1, WU Menglin1,2, CAI Jinyan1, YU De3   

  1. 1 College of Computer and Information Engineering,Nanjing Tech University,Nanjing 211816,China
    2 Carbon Medical Device Ltd.,Shenzhen,Guangdong 518000,China
    3 School of Information Technology,Jiangsu Open University,Nanjing 210036,China
  • Received:2025-03-31 Revised:2025-06-19 Online:2025-09-15 Published:2025-09-11
  • About author:YIN Shi,born in 1991,associate researcher,is a member of CCF(No.50991G).Her main research interests include medical image analysis and deep learning.
    YU De,born in 1987,lecturer.His main research interests include signal processing and medical image analysis.
  • Supported by:
    Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20230312).

Abstract: Kidney ultrasound segmentation plays a pivotal role in clinical diagnosis and treatment planning.This review systema-tically reviews key developments in renal segmentation techniques from 2017 to 2024,focusing on 2D/3D approaches and pathological tissue analysis.Current 2D methods encompass four categories:traditional texture-based techniques,U-Net variants,shape-prior integrated deep learning,and multimodal fusion approaches.The study comprehensively evaluates available datasets and standardized metrics,establishing critical benchmarks for the field.While significant progress has been made in 2D segmentation,persistent challenges include limited precision in fine structures,immature 3D techniques,inadequate pathological analysis,and data scarcity.Overcoming these limitations is crucial for clinical translation.Future directions emphasize refining structural segmentation,advancing 3D reconstruction,developing cross-modal learning,and creating comprehensive datasets.These efforts will enhance the clinical utility of renal ultrasound segmentation,bridging the gap between technical innovation and medical application.

Key words: Kidney US segmentation, Deep learning, Renal abnormalities, Evaluation metrics, Open datasets

CLC Number: 

  • TP391.41
[1]TORRES H R,QUEIRÓS S,MORAIS P,et al.Kidney segmentation in ultrasound,magnetic resonance and computed tomography images:A systematic review[J].Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine,2018,157:49-67.
[2]MENG X,LUO D,MO R.Application value of surgical navigation system based on deep learning and mixed reality for guiding puncture in percutaneous nephrolithotomy:a retrospective study[J].BMC Urology,2024,24(1):230.
[3]KIM D W,AHN H G,KIM J,et al.Advanced Kidney Volume Measurement Method Using Ultrasonography with Artificial Intelligence-Based Hybrid Learning in Children[J].Sensors,2021,21(20):6846.
[4]YIN S,PENG Q,LI H,et al.Multi-instance deep learning of ultrasound imaging data for pattern classification of congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract in children[J].Uro-logy,2020,142:183-189.
[5]YIN S,PENG Q,LI H,et al.Multi-instance deep learning with graph convolutional neural networks for diagnosis of kidney di-seases using ultrasound imaging[C]//Uncertainty for Safe Utilization of Machine Learning in Medical Imaging and Clinical Image-Based Procedures:First International Workshop,UNSURE 2019,and 8th International Workshop,CLIP 2019.Springer,2019:146-154.
[6]GUNABUSHANAM G,SCOUTT L M.Ultrasound Image Optimization for the Interventional Radiologist[J].Techniques in Vascular and Interventional Radiology,2021,24(3):100766.
[7]MARSOUSI M,PLATANIOTIS K N,STERGIOPOULOS S.An Automated Approach for Kidney Segmentation in Three-Dimensional Ultrasound Images[J].IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics,2017,21(4):1079-1094.
[8]RANDLES R,FINNEGAN A.Guidelines for writing a syste-matic review[J].Nurse Education Today,2023,125:105803.
[9]GUO S,CHEN H,SHENG X,et al.Cross-modal transfer learning based on an improved CycleGAN model for accurate kidney segmentation in ultrasound images[J].Ultrasound in Medicine &Biology,2024,50(11):1638-1645.
[10]OGHLI M G,BAGHERI S M,SHABANZADEH A,et al.Fully automated kidney image biomarker prediction in ultrasound scans using Fast-Unet++[J].Scientific Reports,2024,14(1):4782.
[11]CHANG Y C,LO C M,CHEN Y K,et al.W-Net:Two-stagesegmentation for multi-center kidney ultrasound[C]//2024 IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence(CAI).IEEE,2024:1522-1523.
[12]MAHMUD S,ABBAS T O,CHOWDHURY M E,et al.Automated grading of prenatal hydronephrosis severity from segmented kidney ultrasounds using deep learning[J].Expert Systems with Applications,2024,255:124594.
[13]WANG Z,GUAN Y,CHEN Z,et al.A Kidney Dynamic Ultrasound Image Segmentation Method Based on STDC Network[C]//2024 36th Chinese Control and Decision Conference(CCDC).IEEE,2024:501-505.
[14]PENG T,RUAN Y,GU Y,et al.Coarse-to-fine approach:Automatic delineation of kidney ultrasound data[J].Big Data Mining and Analytics,2024,7(4):1321-1332.
[15]ALEXA R,KRANZ J,KRAMANN R,et al.Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Enhanced Renal Analysis:Automated Detection of Hydronephrosis and Precise Kidney Segmentation[J].European Urology Open Science,2024,62:19-25.
[16]DAOUD M I,SHTAIYAT A,YOUNES H A,et al.Improved kidney outlining in ultrasound images by combining deep lear-ning semantic segmentation with conventional active contour[C]//10th International Conference on Electrical and Electronics Engineering(ICEEE 2023).IEEE,2023:74-78.
[17]CHEN G P,ZHAO Y,DAI Y,et al.Asymmetric U-shaped network with hybrid attention mechanism for kidney ultrasound images segmentation[J].Expert Systems with Applications,2023,212:118847.
[18]SONG Z,LIU X,GONG Y,et al.A Two-Stage Framework for Kidney Segmentation in Ultrasound Images[C]//International Conference on Neural Computing for Advanced Applications.Springer,2023:60-74.
[19]CHEN S H,WU Y L,PAN C Y,et al.Renal ultrasound image segmentation method based on channel attention and GL-UNet11[J].Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences,2023,16(3):100631.
[20]PENG T,GU Y,RUAN S J,et al.Novel solution for using neural networks for kidney boundary extraction in 2D ultrasound data[J].Biomolecules,2023,13(10):1548.
[21]PENG T,WU Y,GU Y,et al.Intelligent contour extraction approach for accurate segmentation of medical ultrasound images[J].Frontiers in Physiology,2023,14:1177351.
[22]CHEN G,LIU Y,QIAN J,et al.DSEU-net:A novel deep supervision SEU-net for medical ultrasound image segmentation[J].Expert Systems with Applications,2023,223:119939.
[23]CHEN G,DAI Y,ZHANG J,et al.MBANet:Multi-branchaware network for kidney ultrasound images segmentation[J].Computers in Biology and Medicine,2022,141:105140.
[24]CHEN G,YIN J,DAI Y,et al.A novel convolutional neural network for kidney ultrasound images segmentation[J].Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine,2022,218:106712.
[25]SONG Y,ZHENG J,LEI L,et al.CT2US:Cross-modal transfer learning for kidney segmentation in ultrasound images with synthesized data[J].Ultrasonics,2022,122:106706.
[26]ALEX D M,ABRAHAM CHANDY D,HEPZIBAH CHRISTINAL A,et al.YSegNet:a novel deep learning network for kidney segmentation in 2D ultrasound images[J].Neural Computing and Applications,2022,34(24):22405-22416.
[27]CHEN G,DAI Y,ZHANG J,et al.Mbdsnet:Automatic segmentation of kidney ultrasound images using a multi-branch and deep supervision network[J].Digital Signal Processing,2022,130:103742.
[28]CHEN J,JIN P,SONG Y,et al.Auto-segmentation ultrasound-based radiomics technology to stratify patient with diabetic kidney disease:A multi-center retrospective study[J].Frontiers in Oncology,2022,12:876967.
[29]LEE S,KANG M,BYEON K,et al.Machine Learning-Aided Chronic Kidney Disease Diagnosis Based on Ultrasound Imaging Integrated with Computer-Extracted Measurable Features[J].Journal of Digital Imaging,2022,35(5):1091-1100.
[30]SINGLA R,RINGSTROM C,HU R,et al.Speckle and sha-dows:ultrasound-specific physics-based data augmentation applied to kidney segmentation[C]//Medical Imaging with Deep Learning.2022.
[31]FENG W,LIU J,GUAN Z,et al.Renal Ultrasound Image Segmentation Based on U-Net and Generative Adversarial Nets[C]//2022 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Intelligent Robot Systems(ACIRS).IEEE,2022:96-100.
[32]VALENTE S,MORAIS P,TORRES H R,et al.A deep learningmethod for kidney segmentation in 2D ultrasound images[C]//2022 44th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society(EMBC).IEEE,2022:3911-3914.
[33]WANG S,SINGH V K,CHEAH E,et al.Stacked dilated convolutions and asymmetric architecture for U-Net-based medical image segmentation[J].Computers in Biology and Medicine,2022,148:105891.
[34]SONG S H,HAN J H,KIM K S,et al.Deep-learning segmentation of ultrasound images for automated calculation of the hydronephrosis area to renal parenchyma ratio[J].Investigative and Clinical Urology,2022,63(4):455.
[35]YIN S,ZHANG Z,LI H,et al.Fully-automatic segmentation of kidneys in clinical ultrasound images using a boundary distance regression network[C]//2019 IEEE 16th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging(ISBI 2019).IEEE,2019:1741-1744.
[36]PENG H,GUAN Y,LI J,et al.MwUnet:A semantic segmentation deep learning method for the ultrasonic image of hydronephrosis in children[C]//2021 IEEE International Conference on Systems,Man,and Cybernetics(SMC).IEEE,2021:1894-1899.
[37]ROSHANITABRIZI P,ZEMBER J,SPRAGUE B M,et al.Standardized analysis of kidney ultrasound images for the prediction of pediatric hydronephrosis severity[C]//Machine Learning in Medical Imaging:12th International Workshop,MLMI 2021.Springer,2021:366-375.
[38]LIN Y,KHONG P L,ZOU Z,et al.Evaluation of pediatric hydronephrosis using deep learning quantification of fluid-to-kidney-area ratio by ultrasonography[J].Abdominal Radiology,2021,46:5229-5239.
[39]CHEN G,DAI Y,LI R,et al.SDFNet:Automatic segmentation of kidney ultrasound images using multi-scale low-level structu-ral feature[J].Expert Systems with Applications,2021,185:115619.
[40]WEN P,GUAN Y,LI J,et al.A-PSPNet:A novel segmentation method of renal ultrasound image[C]//2021 IEEE International Conference on Systems,Man,and Cybernetics(SMC).IEEE,2021:40-45.
[41]YIN S,PENG Q,LI H,et al.Automatic kidney segmentation in ultrasound images using subsequent boundary distance regression and pixelwise classification networks[J].Medical Image Analysis,2020,60:101602.
[42]ALEX D M,CHANDY D A.Investigations on performances of pre-trained U-Net models for 2D ultrasound kidney image segmentation[C]//International Conference for Emerging Techno-logies in Computing.Cham:Springer,2020:185-195.
[43]WU Z,HAI J,ZHANG L,et al.Cascaded fully convolutionalDenseNet for automatic kidney segmentation in ultrasound images[C]//2019 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data(ICAIBD).IEEE,2019:384-388.
[44]LI X,LI C,LIU H,et al.A modified level set algorithm based on point distance shape constraint for lesion and organ segmentation[J].Physica Medica,2019,57:123-36.
[45]MEENAKSHI S,SUGANTHI M,SURESHKUMAR P.Seg-mentation and boundary detection of fetal kidney images in second and third trimesters using kernel-based fuzzy clustering[J].Journal of Medical Systems,2019,43(7):203.
[46]ZHENG Q,WARNER S,TASIAN G,et al.A Dynamic Graph Cuts Method with Integrated Multiple Feature Maps for Segmenting Kidneys in 2D Ultrasound Images[J].Academic Radiology,2018,25(9):1136-1145.
[47]SELVATHI D,BAMA S.Phase based distance regularized level set for the segmentation of ultrasound kidney images[J].Pattern Recognition Letters,2017,86:9-17.
[48]RAVISHANKAR H,THIRUVENKADAM S,VENKATARAMANI R,et al.Joint deep learning of foreground,background and shape for robust contextual segmentation[C]//International Conference on Information Processing in Medical Imaging.Cham:Springer,2017:622-632.
[49]RAVISHANKAR H,VENKATARAMANI R,THIRUVENKADAM S,et al.Learning and incorporating shape models for semantic segmentation[C]//International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-assisted Intervention.Cham:Springer,2017:203-211.
[50]SINGLA R,RINGSTROM C,HU G,et al.The open kidney ultrasound data set[C]//International Workshop on Advances in Simplifying Medical Ultrasound.Cham:Springer,2023:155-164.
[51]PAWAR M,DOSHI P,SHINDE R.Detection and Segmentation of Kidney from Ultrasound Image Using GVF[C]//Techno-Societal 2018:Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Societal Applications-Volume 1.Cham:Springer,2019:217-229.
[52]JAGTAP J M,GREGORY A V,HOMES H L,et al.Automated measurement of total kidney volume from 3D ultrasound images of patients affected by polycystic kidney disease and comparison to MR measurements[J].Abdominal Radiology,2022,47(7):2408-2419.
[53]TABRIZI P R,MANSOOR A,CERROLAZA J J,et al.Auto-matic kidney segmentation in 3D pediatric ultrasound images using deep neural networks and weighted fuzzy active shape model[C]//2018 IEEE 15th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging(ISBI 2018).IEEE,2018:1170-1173.
[54]TORRES H R,QUEIRÓS S,MORAIS P,et al.Kidney segmentation in 3-D ultrasound images using a fast phase-based approach[J].IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics,Ferroelectrics,and Frequency Control,2020,68(5):1521-1531.
[55]WEERASINGHE N H,LOVELL N H,WELSH A W,et al.Multi-parametric fusion of 3D power Doppler ultrasound for fetal kidney segmentation using fully convolutional neural networks[J].IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics,2020,25(6):2050-2057.
[56]BOUSSAID H,ROUET L.Shape Feature Loss for Kidney Segmentation in 3D Ultrasound Images[C]//BMVC.2021:427.
[57]NDZIMBONG W,FOURNIOL C,THEMYR L,et al.TRUSTED:The Paired 3D Transabdominal Ultrasound and CT Human Data for Kidney Segmentation and Registration Research[J].Scientific Data,2025,12(1):615.
[58]TABRIZI P R,MANSOOR A,CERROLAZA J J,et al.Auto-matic segmentation of the renal collecting system in 3D pediatric ultrasound to assess the severity of hydronephrosis[C]//2019 IEEE 16th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging(ISBI 2019).IEEE,2019:1717-1720.
[59]NITHYA A,APPATHURAI A,VENKATADRI N,et al.Kidney disease detection and segmentation using artificial neural network and multi-kernel k-means clustering for ultrasound images[J].Measurement,2020,149:106952.
[60]ESKANDARI S,MESHGINI S,FARZAMNIA A.Using a no-vel algorithm in ultrasound images to detect renal stones[C]//Proceedings of the 12th National Technical Seminar on Unmanned System Technology 2020:NUSYS’20.Springer,2022:755-767.
[61]RAJU P,RAO V M,RAO B P.Optimal GLCM combined FCM segmentation algorithm for detection of kidney cysts and tumor[J].Multimedia Tools and Applications,2019,78:18419-18441.
[62]QI H,WANG Z,QI X,et al.Ultrasound image segmentation of renal tumors based on UNet++ with fusion of multiscale residuals and dual attention[J].Physics in Medicine & Biology,2024,69(7):075002.
[63]AKKASALIGAR P T,BIRADAR S,BADIGER S.Segmentation of kidney stones in medical ultrasound images[C]//International Conference on Recent Trends in Image Processing and Pattern Recognition.Springer,2019:200-208.
[64]SELVARANI S,RAJENDRAN P.Detection of Renal Calculi in Ultrasound Image Using Meta-Heuristic Support Vector Machine[J].Journal of Medical Systems,2019,43(9):300.
[65]JEEVAW S.Ultrasound Normal Kidney Image Dataset[EB/OL].https://universe.roboflow.com/jeevaws/ultrasound-normal-kidney-image.
[66]VALENTE S,MORAIS P,TORRES H R,et al.A Comparative Study of Deep Learning Methods for Multi-Class Semantic Segmentation of 2D Kidney Ultrasound Images[C]//2023 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society(EMBC).IEEE,2023:1-4.
[67]NOBLE J A,BOUKERROUI D.Ultrasound image segmenta-tion:a survey[J].IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging,2006,25(8):987-1010.
[68]HELLER N,ISENSEE F,MAIER-HEIN K H,et al.The state of the art in kidney and kidney tumor segmentation in contrast-enhanced CT imaging:Results of the KiTS19 challenge[J].Medical Image Analysis,2021,67:101821.
[69]NOBLE J A.Ultrasound image segmentation and tissue characterization[J].Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers,2010,224(2):307-316.
[70]WU P,LIU Y,LI Y,et al.Robust Prostate Segmentation Using Intrinsic Properties of TRUS Images[J].IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging,2015,34(6):1321-1335.
[71]QIAN K,ANDO T,NAKAMURA K,et al.Ultrasound imaging method for internal jugular vein measurement and estimation of circulating blood volume[J].International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery,2014,9(2):231-239.
[72]MAZUROWSKI M A,DONG H,GU H,et al.Segment any-thing model for medical image analysis:An experimental study[J].Medical Image Analysis,2023,89:102918.
[1] ZENG Lili, XIA Jianan, LI Shaowen, JING Maike, ZHAO Huihui, ZHOU Xuezhong. M2T-Net:Cross-task Transfer Learning Tongue Diagnosis Method Based on Multi-source Data [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(9): 47-53.
[2] LI Yaru, WANG Qianqian, CHE Chao, ZHU Deheng. Graph-based Compound-Protein Interaction Prediction with Drug Substructures and Protein 3D Information [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(9): 71-79.
[3] LUO Chi, LU Lingyun, LIU Fei. Partial Differential Equation Solving Method Based on Locally Enhanced Fourier NeuralOperators [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(9): 144-151.
[4] LIU Leyuan, CHEN Gege, WU Wei, WANG Yong, ZHOU Fan. Survey of Data Classification and Grading Studies [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(9): 195-211.
[5] LIU Wei, XU Yong, FANG Juan, LI Cheng, ZHU Yujun, FANG Qun, HE Xin. Multimodal Air-writing Gesture Recognition Based on Radar-Vision Fusion [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(9): 259-268.
[6] LIU Zhengyu, ZHANG Fan, QI Xiaofeng, GAO Yanzhao, SONG Yijing, FAN Wang. Review of Research on Deep Learning Compiler [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(8): 29-44.
[7] TANG Boyuan, LI Qi. Review on Application of Spatial-Temporal Graph Neural Network in PM2.5 ConcentrationForecasting [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(8): 71-85.
[8] ZHENG Cheng, YANG Nan. Aspect-based Sentiment Analysis Based on Syntax,Semantics and Affective Knowledge [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(7): 218-225.
[9] ZHOU Lei, SHI Huaifeng, YANG Kai, WANG Rui, LIU Chaofan. Intelligent Prediction of Network Traffic Based on Large Language Model [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(6A): 241100058-7.
[10] GUAN Xin, YANG Xueyong, YANG Xiaolin, MENG Xiangfu. Tumor Mutation Prediction Model of Lung Adenocarcinoma Based on Pathological [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(6A): 240700010-8.
[11] TAN Jiahui, WEN Chenyan, HUANG Wei, HU Kai. CT Image Segmentation of Intracranial Hemorrhage Based on ESC-TransUNet Network [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(6A): 240700030-9.
[12] RAN Qin, RUAN Xiaoli, XU Jing, LI Shaobo, HU Bingqi. Function Prediction of Therapeutic Peptides with Multi-coded Neural Networks Based on Projected Gradient Descent [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(6A): 240800024-6.
[13] FAN Xing, ZHOU Xiaohang, ZHANG Ning. Review on Methods and Applications of Short Text Similarity Measurement in Social Media Platforms [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(6A): 240400206-8.
[14] YANG Jixiang, JIANG Huiping, WANG Sen, MA Xuan. Research Progress and Challenges in Forest Fire Risk Prediction [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(6A): 240400177-8.
[15] WANG Jiamin, WU Wenhong, NIU Hengmao, SHI Bao, WU Nier, HAO Xu, ZHANG Chao, FU Rongsheng. Review of Concrete Defect Detection Methods Based on Deep Learning [J]. Computer Science, 2025, 52(6A): 240900137-12.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited

  Shared   
  Discussed   
No Suggested Reading articles found!