# Centerline Boundary Dice Loss for Vascular Segmentation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.01517 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.01517/

## Key facts

- Cited by 27 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 19 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 1 Jul 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Swin UNETR: Swin Transformers for Semantic Segmentation of Brain Tumors in MRI Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.01266/) (2022)
- [clDice -- A Novel Topology-Preserving Loss Function for Tubular Structure Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.07311/) (2020)
- [Topology-Preserving Deep Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.05404/) (2019)
- [Metrics reloaded: Recommendations for image analysis validation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.01653/) (2022)
- [Boundary loss for highly unbalanced segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.07032/) (2018)
- [A Topological Loss Function for Deep-Learning based Image Segmentation using Persistent Homology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.01877/) (2019)
- [Unified Focal loss: Generalising Dice and cross entropy-based losses to handle class imbalanced medical image segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04525/) (2021)
- [Dynamic Snake Convolution based on Topological Geometric Constraints for Tubular Structure Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.08388/) (2023)
- [Combo Loss: Handling Input and Output Imbalance in Multi-Organ Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.02798/) (2018)
- [Understanding metric-related pitfalls in image analysis validation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.01790/) (2023)
- [Deep Distance Transform for Tubular Structure Segmentation in CT Scans](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.03383/) (2019)
- [The TopCoW Challenge -- Topology-Aware Circle of Willis Segmentation for CT and MR Angiography](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.17670/) (2023)
- [Topologically faithful image segmentation via induced matching of persistence barcodes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.15272/) (2022)
- [Shape-Aware Organ Segmentation by Predicting Signed Distance Maps](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.03849/) (2019)
- [Topology-Aware Uncertainty for Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.05671/) (2023)
- [Efficient automatic segmentation for multi-level pulmonary arteries: The PARSE challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03708/) (2023)
- [A skeletonization algorithm for gradient-based optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.02527/) (2023)
- [Boundary Difference Over Union Loss For Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.00220/) (2023)
- [NexToU: Efficient Topology-Aware U-Net for Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.15911/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 27 of 27)

- [GLCP: Global-to-Local Connectivity Preservation for Tubular Structure Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.21328/) (2025)
- [Multi-Class Segmentation of Aortic Branches and Zones in Computed Tomography Angiography: The AortaSeg24 Challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.05330/) (2025)
- [BrainMRDiff: A Diffusion Model for Anatomically Consistent Brain MRI Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.04532/) (2025)
- [VesselSDF: Distance Field Priors for Vascular Network Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.16556/) (2025)
- [Topology-Aware Exploration of Circle of Willis for CTA and MRA: Segmentation, Detection, and Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.15614/) (2024)
- [COMMA: Coordinate-aware Modulated Mamba Network for 3D Dispersed Vessel Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02332/) (2025)
- [TopoMortar: A dataset to evaluate image segmentation methods focused on topology accuracy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.03365/) (2025)
- [Disconnect to Connect: A Data Augmentation Method for Improving Topology Accuracy in Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.05541/) (2025)
- [HRVVS: A High-resolution Video Vasculature Segmentation Network via Hierarchical Autoregressive Residual Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.22530/) (2025)
- [TopoSculpt: Betti-Steered Topological Sculpting of 3D Fine-grained Tubular Shapes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.03938/) (2025)
- [Leveraging Persistence Image to Enhance Robustness and Performance in Curvilinear Structure Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.18045/) (2026)
- [Robust automatic brain vessel segmentation in 3D CTA scans using dynamic 4D-CTA data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.00391/) (2026)
- [Towards High-Quality Image Segmentation: Improving Topology Accuracy by Penalizing Neighbor Pixels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.18671/) (2026)
- [Conformable Convolution for Topologically Aware Learning of Complex Anatomical Structures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.20608/) (2024)
- [Shape-aware Sampling Matters in the Modeling of Multi-Class Tubular Structures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.12395/) (2025)
- [ArteryX: A Reliable End-to-End Toolbox for Standardized Intracranial Artery Feature Extraction from 3D TOF-MRA](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.07920/) (2025)
- [Anatomy-DT: A Cross-Diffusion Digital Twin for Anatomical Evolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.25280/) (2025)
- [IMSAHLO: Integrating Multi-Scale Attention and Hybrid Loss Optimization Framework for Robust Neuronal Brain Cell Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.11645/) (2026)
- [TubeMLLM: A Foundation Model for Topology Knowledge Exploration in Vessel-like Anatomy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.09217/) (2026)
- [Focus on What Matters: Two-Stage ROI-Aware Refinement for Anatomy-Preserving Fetal Ultrasound Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.23839/) (2026)
- [MARVEL: Universal Murray's Law-informed Vessel Tree Segmentation and Topology Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.25363/) (2026)
- [VesselSim: learning 3D blood vessel segmentation without expert annotations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.26277/) (2026)
- [vesselFM-CT: Segmenting All Blood Vessels in CT Images for System-Level Cardiovascular Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.09400/) (2026)
- [CSWinUNETR: Segmentation of Thin Anatomical Structures in Medical Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.19824/) (2026)
- [MorVess: Morphology-Aware Pulmonary Vessel Segmentation Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.24214/) (2026)
- [Widest-Path Reachability Fields for Connectivity-Preserving Slender Structure Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.07123/) (2026)
- [Beyond Volume Overlap: Surface Matching for Topology-Aware Coronary Artery Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.31740/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Vascular segmentation in medical imaging plays a crucial role in analysing morphological and functional assessments. Traditional methods, like the centerline Dice (clDice) loss, ensure topology preservation but falter in capturing geometric details, especially under translation and deformation. The combination of clDice with traditional Dice loss can lead to diameter imbalance, favoring larger vessels. Addressing these challenges, we introduce the centerline boundary Dice (cbDice) loss function, which harmonizes topological integrity and geometric nuances, ensuring consistent segmentation across various vessel sizes. cbDice enriches the clDice approach by including boundary-aware aspects, thereby improving geometric detail recognition. It matches the performance of the boundary difference over union (B-DoU) loss through a mask-distance-based approach, enhancing traslation sensitivity. Crucially, cbDice incorporates radius information from vascular skeletons, enabling uniform adaptation to vascular diameter changes and maintaining balance in branch growth and fracture impacts. Furthermore, we conducted a theoretical analysis of clDice variants (cl-X-Dice). We validated cbDice's efficacy on three diverse vascular segmentation datasets, encompassing both 2D and 3D, and binary and multi-class segmentation. Particularly, the method integrated with cbDice demonstrated outstanding performance on the MICCAI 2023 TopCoW Challenge dataset. Our code is made publicly available at: https://github.com/PengchengShi1220/cbDice.