U-net-based segmentation of foreign bodies and ghost images in panoramic radiographs

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) model for the automatic segmentation of foreign bodies and ghost images in panoramic radiographs (PRs), which can complicate diagnostic interpretation. Methods: A dataset of 11,226 PRs from four devices was annotated by two radiologists using the Computer Vision Annotation Tool. A U-Net-based CNN model was trained and evaluated using Intersection over Union (IoU), Dice coefficient, accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score. Results: For foreign body segmentation, the model achieved validation Dice and IoU scores of 0.9439 and 0.9043, and test scores of 0.9657 and 0.9371. For ghost image segmentation, validation Dice and IoU were 0.8234 and 0.7388, with test scores of 0.8749 and 0.8145. Overall test accuracy exceeded 0.999. Conclusions: The AI model showed high accuracy in segmenting foreign bodies and ghost images in PRs, indicating its potential to assist radiologists. Further clinical validation is recommended. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.