Optimising Generalisable Deep Learning Models for CT Coronary Segmentation: A Multifactorial Evaluation

Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with incidence rates continuing to rise. Automated coronary artery medical image segmentation can ultimately improve CAD management by enabling more advanced and efficient diagnostic assessments. Deep learning-based segmentation methods have shown significant promise and offered higher accuracy while reducing reliance on manual inputs. However, achieving consistent performance across diverse datasets remains a persistent challenge due to substantial variability in imaging protocols, equipment and patient-specific factors, such as signal intensities, anatomical differences and disease severity. This study investigates the influence of image quality and resolution, governed by vessel size and common disease characteristics that introduce artefacts, such as calcification, on coronary artery segmentation accuracy in computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA). Two datasets were utilised for model training and validation, including the publicly available ASOCA dataset (40 cases) and a GeoCAD dataset (70 cases) with more cases of coronary disease. Coronary artery segmentations were generated using three deep learning frameworks/architectures: default U-Net, Swin-UNETR, and EfficientNet-LinkNet. The impact of various factors on model generalisation was evaluated, focusing on imaging characteristics (contrast-to-noise ratio, artery contrast enhancement, and edge sharpness) and the extent of calcification at both the coronary tree and individual vessel branch levels. The calcification ranges considered were 0 (no calcification), 1-99 (low), 100-399 (moderate), and > 400 (high). The findings demonstrated that image features, including artery contrast enhancement (r = 0.408, p < 0.001) and edge sharpness (r = 0.239, p = 0.046), were significantly correlated with improved segmentation performance in test cases. Regardless of severity, calcification had a negative impact on segmentation accuracy, with low calcification affecting the segmentation most poorly (p < 0.05). This may be because smaller calcified lesions produce less distinct contrast against the bright lumen, making it harder for the model to accurately identify and segment these lesions. Additionally, in males, a larger diameter of the first obtuse marginal branch (OM1) (p = 0.036) was associated with improved segmentation performance for OM1. Similarly, in females, larger diameters of left main (LM) coronary artery (p = 0.008) and right coronary artery (RCA) (p < 0.001) were associated with better segmentation performance for LM and RCA, respectively. These findings emphasise the importance of accounting for imaging characteristics and anatomical variability when developing generalisable deep learning models for coronary artery segmentation. Unlike previous studies, which broadly acknowledge the role of image quality in segmentation, our work quantitatively demonstrates the extent to which contrast enhancement, edge sharpness, calcification and vessel diameter impact segmentation performance, offering a data-driven foundation for model adaptation strategies. Potential improvements include optimising pre-segmentation imaging (e.g. ensuring adequate edge sharpness in low-contrast regions) and developing algorithms to address vessel-specific challenges, such as improving segmentation of low-level calcifications and accurately identifying LM, RCA and OM1 of smaller diameters.