Abstract

Background: Renal segmentation is a challenging procedure, and the difficulty of segmentation varies from one imaging modality to another. Various imaging modalities such as CT, MRI, US, etc. are currently utilized to evaluate and analyze kidney pathologies such as kidney cancer, and other related disorders.

Techniques: Among all available imaging techniques, CT is usually preferred by radiologists because it provides high-resolution images with good anatomical details. Over the past decades, numerous kidney segmentation techniques have been proposed in the literature, and an updated survey intending to classifying and summarizing the presented studies related to kidney segmentation is required.

Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, no survey paper was found in the literature that reviews the kidney segmentation techniques. This survey aims to provide an introduction to beginners to initiate their research in this field and provides a comprehensive review of the state of the art renal segmentation techniques that have been applied to CT imaging modality. The quantitative performance of existing techniques has also been evaluated.

Conclusion: The research gaps found in the literature and possible avenues for future research have also been addressed.

Keywords: Kidney, CT, segmentation, renal, medical imaging, imaging modalities.

Graphical Abstract