Home | Help Center

Endless possibilities in academia

Diagnostic performance of deep learning for brachial plexus ultrasound: A systematic review

Jiaen Wu1, Jiaxun Jiang1, Zhaopeng Zhou1, Miao Zhou2, Liangqing Lin3, Jinjing Wu1, Haipo Cui1


1School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China. 2Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Changzhou 213164, Jiangsu Province, China. 3Department of Anesthesiology, The First Hospital of Putian, Putian 351100, Fujian, China.


Address correspondence to: Haipo Cui, School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, No. 516 Jungong Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200093, China. E-mail: h_b_cui@163.com.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.61189/251934gxqfic


Received April 9, 2025; Accepted August 13, 2025; Published December 31, 2025


Highlights

● This study compares deep learning methods for brachial plexus ultrasound segmentation, demonstrating improved segmentation efficiency and reduced learning difficulty, which may enhance perioperative regional anesthesia planning and safety. 

● U-Net is favored for brachial plexus segmentation due to its enhanced ability to capture contextual features through increased channel utilization. 

● Available public brachial plexus datasets are summarized, offering valuable resources for future research and perioperative ultrasound applications.

Abstract

Ultrasound-guided nerve block is a safe and effective regional anesthesia technique; however, accurate identification of the brachial plexus remains challenging due to its small size and low contrast in ultrasound images. Recent advances in deep learning offer promising solutions to enhance brachial plexus segmentation and improve perioperative regional anesthesia precision and safety. This review systematically summarizes current deep learning approaches applied to ultrasound-based brachial plexus segmentation. We highlight key models, including Convolutional Neural Networks, the U-shaped Convolutional Neural Networks and their variants, Mask RegionBased Convolutional Neural Networks, and Generative Adversarial Network-based architectures, and compare their reported performances, with Dice Similarity Coefficients ranging from 0.5865 to 0.882 and Intersection over Union values up to 0.6957. Among them, U-Net remains the most frequently employed due to its balance of accuracy and computational efficiency. Moreover, novel models such as multi-objective brachial plexus segmentation network and BPMSegNet have demonstrated superior segmentation performance by incorporating attention mechanisms and spatial contrast features. Notwithstanding these advancements, challenges persist, particularly limited dataset availability and insufficient model generalization. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress, evaluates comparative performance metrics, and outlines future directions to improve model robustness and clinical applicability and clinical applicability in the perioperative setting.

Keywords: Deep learning, brachial plexus, image segmentation

Cite

Wu JE, Jiang JX, Zhou ZP, Zhou M, Lin LQ, Wu JJ, Cui HP.  Diagnostic performance of deep learning for brachial plexus ultrasound: A systematic review. Perioper Precis Med. 2025 Dec; 3 (4): 186-199. doi: 10.61189/251934gxqfic

[Copy]