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In Urology ; h5-index 45.0

OBJECTIVES : To develop a convolutional neural network to recognize the seminal vesicle and vas deferens (SV-VD) in the posterior approach of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and assess the performance of the convolutional neural network model under clinically relevant conditions.

METHODS : Intraoperative videos of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy performed by the posterior approach from three institutions were obtained between 2019 and 2020. Using SV-VD dissection videos, semantic segmentation of the seminal vesicle-vas deferens area was performed using a convolutional neural network-based approach. The dataset was split into training and test data in a 10:3 ratio. The average time required by six novice urologists to correctly recognize the SV-VD was compared using intraoperative videos with and without segmentation masks generated by the convolutional neural network model, which was evaluated with the test data using the Dice similarity coefficient. Training and test datasets were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test and chi-square test. Time required to recognize the SV-VD was evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U-test.

RESULTS : From 26 patient videos, 1 040 images were created (520 SV-VD annotated images and 520 SV-VD non-displayed images). The convolutional neural network model had a Dice similarity coefficient value of 0.73 in the test data. Compared with original videos, videos with the generated segmentation mask promoted significantly faster seminal vesicle and vas deferens recognition (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS : The convolutional neural network model provides accurate recognition of the SV-VD in the posterior approach RARP, which may be helpful, especially for novice urologists.

Takeshita Nobushige, Sakamoto Shinichi, Kitaguchi Daichi, Takeshita Nobuyoshi, Yajima Shugo, Koike Tatsuki, Ishikawa Yuto, Matsuzaki Hiroki, Mori Kensaku, Masuda Hitoshi, Ichikawa Tomohiko, Ito Masaaki

2022-Dec-23

Convolutional neural network, Posterior approach, Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, Seminal vesicle, Vas deferens