Fibroglandular tissue segmentation and background parenchymal enhancement quantification in breast MRI using an anatomy-aware loss function

Motivation: Fully automatic segmentation of fibroglandular tissue (FGT) and background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) quantification methods with high generalizability for different FGT levels are still lacking. Goal(s): We aimed to improve the segmentation accuracy and generalizability across various FGT levels that accurately quantify FGT density and BPE. Approach: A novel anatomy-aware loss function based on the variations in FGT level was applied in a fully automatic segmentation model training on breast MRIs. Results: The accuracy of breast tissue segmentation, FGT density estimation, and BPE quantification were improved at various FGT levels. Impact: The anatomy-aware loss function can help improve the generalization of the breast tissue segmentation model on patients with different breast densities, thereby enabling the model to be more widely used in fibroglandular tissue density estimation and background parenchymal enhancement quantification.