VerteNet -- A Multi-Context Hybrid CNN Transformer for Accurate Vertebral Landmark Localization in Lateral Spine DXA Images

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Main Authors: Maqsood, Arooba, Ilyas, Zaid, Saleem, Afsah, Zhang, Erchuan, Suter, David, Raina, Parminder, Hodgson, Jonathan M., Schousboe, John T., Leslie, William D., Lewis, Joshua R., Gilani, Syed Zulqarnain
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Maqsood, Arooba
Ilyas, Zaid
Saleem, Afsah
Zhang, Erchuan
Suter, David
Raina, Parminder
Hodgson, Jonathan M.
Schousboe, John T.
Leslie, William D.
Lewis, Joshua R.
Gilani, Syed Zulqarnain
author_facet Maqsood, Arooba
Ilyas, Zaid
Saleem, Afsah
Zhang, Erchuan
Suter, David
Raina, Parminder
Hodgson, Jonathan M.
Schousboe, John T.
Leslie, William D.
Lewis, Joshua R.
Gilani, Syed Zulqarnain
contents This aims to develop and validate a deep learning model that can accurately locate vertebral landmarks in lateral spine Dual energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans. Accurate vertebral landmark localization is critical for reliable fracture assessment and scoring of abdominal aortic calcification using the Kauppila 24-point method; however, DXA lateral spine images are low-contrast, artifact-prone, and manufacturer-dependent, while manual annotation is time-consuming and reader-dependent. This study aimed to address these challenges by developing a dual-resolution self- and cross-attention model for robust vertebral landmark localization using lateral spine DXA scans from four different scanner models. Ground-truth vertebral corner landmarks (T12 to L5) were manually annotated, and performance was evaluated using normalized mean and median localization errors against baseline and state-of-the-art methods. The proposed framework achieved superior localization accuracy across all four DXA scanner models, with a normalized mean error of 4.92 pixels and a median error of 2.35 pixels, outperforming baseline methods. The abdominal aorta crop detection algorithm achieved 100% accuracy in validation and 96% accuracy (sensitivity 0.93, specificity 0.98) in an independent test set. Generated intervertebral guides further improved inter-reader agreement, reflected by higher Cohens weighted kappa and inter-reader correlation. The proposed deep learning framework enables accurate and robust vertebral landmark localization in lateral spine DXA images across heterogeneous imaging systems to support clinically relevant downstream analyses. The code for this work can be found at: https://github.com/zaidilyas89/VerteNet
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_02097
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle VerteNet -- A Multi-Context Hybrid CNN Transformer for Accurate Vertebral Landmark Localization in Lateral Spine DXA Images
Maqsood, Arooba
Ilyas, Zaid
Saleem, Afsah
Zhang, Erchuan
Suter, David
Raina, Parminder
Hodgson, Jonathan M.
Schousboe, John T.
Leslie, William D.
Lewis, Joshua R.
Gilani, Syed Zulqarnain
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
This aims to develop and validate a deep learning model that can accurately locate vertebral landmarks in lateral spine Dual energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans. Accurate vertebral landmark localization is critical for reliable fracture assessment and scoring of abdominal aortic calcification using the Kauppila 24-point method; however, DXA lateral spine images are low-contrast, artifact-prone, and manufacturer-dependent, while manual annotation is time-consuming and reader-dependent. This study aimed to address these challenges by developing a dual-resolution self- and cross-attention model for robust vertebral landmark localization using lateral spine DXA scans from four different scanner models. Ground-truth vertebral corner landmarks (T12 to L5) were manually annotated, and performance was evaluated using normalized mean and median localization errors against baseline and state-of-the-art methods. The proposed framework achieved superior localization accuracy across all four DXA scanner models, with a normalized mean error of 4.92 pixels and a median error of 2.35 pixels, outperforming baseline methods. The abdominal aorta crop detection algorithm achieved 100% accuracy in validation and 96% accuracy (sensitivity 0.93, specificity 0.98) in an independent test set. Generated intervertebral guides further improved inter-reader agreement, reflected by higher Cohens weighted kappa and inter-reader correlation. The proposed deep learning framework enables accurate and robust vertebral landmark localization in lateral spine DXA images across heterogeneous imaging systems to support clinically relevant downstream analyses. The code for this work can be found at: https://github.com/zaidilyas89/VerteNet
title VerteNet -- A Multi-Context Hybrid CNN Transformer for Accurate Vertebral Landmark Localization in Lateral Spine DXA Images
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.02097