Graph-based methods for cervical cancer segmentation: Advancements, limitations, and future directions

Abstract

Cervical cancer remains a significant health concern worldwide, where precise segmentation of cervical lesions is integral for effective diagnosis and treatment planning. This systematic review critically evaluates the application of graph-based methodologies for cervical cancer segmentation, identifying their potential, drawbacks, and avenues for future development. An exhaustive literature search across Scopus and PubMed databases resulted in 20 pertinent studies. These studies were assessed focusing on their implementation of graph-based techniques for cervical cancer segmentation, the utilized datasets, evaluation metrics, and reported precision levels. The review highlights the progressive strides made in the field, especially regarding the segmentation of intricate, non-convex regions and facilitating the detection and grading of cervical cancer using graph-based methodologies. Nonetheless, several constraints were evident, including a dearth of comparative performance analysis, reliance on high-resolution images, difficulties in specific boundary delineation, and the imperative for additional validation and diversified datasets. The review suggests future work to integrate advanced deep learning strategies for heightened accuracy, formulate hybrid methodologies to counteract existing limitations, and explore multi-modal fusion to boost segmentation precision. Emphasizing the explainability and interpretability of outcomes also stands paramount. Lastly, addressing critical challenges such as scarcity of annotated data, the need for real-time and interactive segmentation, and the segmentation of multiple objects or regions of interest remains a crucial frontier for future endeavors.

Keywords

• Cervical cancer
• Graph-based methods
• Image segmentation
• Geometric deep learning
• Graph attention networks