{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7164664974","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z","title":"Challenging DINOv3 foundation model under low inter-class variability: a case study on fetal brain ultrasound","display_name":"Challenging DINOv3 foundation model under low inter-class variability: a case study on fetal brain ultrasound","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-06-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7164664974","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S147897268","display_name":"Neural Computing and Applications","issn_l":"0941-0643","issn":["0941-0643","1433-3058"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Neural Computing and Applications","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z.pdf","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5084679778","display_name":"Edoardo Conti","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I122534668","display_name":"Marche Polytechnic University","ror":"https://ror.org/00x69rs40","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Edoardo Conti","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5086186566","display_name":"Riccardo Rosati","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3288-638X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I122534668","display_name":"Marche Polytechnic University","ror":"https://ror.org/00x69rs40","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Riccardo Rosati","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3288-638X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5109773599","display_name":"L. F\u00e9d\u00e9rici","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5919-3484"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I122534668","display_name":"Marche Polytechnic University","ror":"https://ror.org/00x69rs40","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Lorenzo Federici","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5083358549","display_name":"Adriano Mancini","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5281-9200"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I122534668","display_name":"Marche Polytechnic University","ror":"https://ror.org/00x69rs40","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Adriano Mancini","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5076591016","display_name":"Maria Chiara Fiorentino","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7397-803X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I122534668","display_name":"Marche Polytechnic University","ror":"https://ror.org/00x69rs40","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Maria Chiara Fiorentino","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Information Engineering, Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5086186566"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I122534668"],"apc_list":{"value":2390,"currency":"EUR","value_usd":2990},"apc_paid":{"value":2390,"currency":"EUR","value_usd":2990},"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.76906009,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"38","issue":"12","first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12552","display_name":"Fetal and Pediatric Neurological Disorders","score":0.965399980545044,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2735","display_name":"Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/27","display_name":"Medicine"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/4","display_name":"Health Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12552","display_name":"Fetal and Pediatric Neurological Disorders","score":0.965399980545044,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2735","display_name":"Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/27","display_name":"Medicine"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/4","display_name":"Health Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11307","display_name":"Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning","score":0.010400000028312206,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10978","display_name":"Prenatal Screening and Diagnostics","score":0.0035000001080334187,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2735","display_name":"Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/27","display_name":"Medicine"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/4","display_name":"Health Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/initialization","display_name":"Initialization","score":0.6984000205993652},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/biometrics","display_name":"Biometrics","score":0.6870999932289124},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/foundation","display_name":"Foundation (evidence)","score":0.5511999726295471},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/echogenicity","display_name":"Echogenicity","score":0.5432999730110168},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/transferability","display_name":"Transferability","score":0.46050000190734863},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/ultrasound","display_name":"Ultrasound","score":0.4602999985218048},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/3d-ultrasound","display_name":"3D ultrasound","score":0.39649999141693115}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7285000085830688},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C114466953","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6034165","display_name":"Initialization","level":2,"score":0.6984000205993652},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184297639","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q177765","display_name":"Biometrics","level":2,"score":0.6870999932289124},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.5582000017166138},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780966255","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5474306","display_name":"Foundation (evidence)","level":2,"score":0.5511999726295471},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C206111553","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3501532","display_name":"Echogenicity","level":3,"score":0.5432999730110168},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C61272859","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7834031","display_name":"Transferability","level":3,"score":0.46050000190734863},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C143753070","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q162564","display_name":"Ultrasound","level":2,"score":0.4602999985218048},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780170424","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q229399","display_name":"3D ultrasound","level":3,"score":0.39649999141693115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C153180895","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7148389","display_name":"Pattern recognition (psychology)","level":2,"score":0.3926999866962433},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.3634999990463257},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780385302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q367158","display_name":"Protocol (science)","level":3,"score":0.3393000066280365},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C58693492","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q551875","display_name":"Neuroimaging","level":2,"score":0.3140000104904175},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C108583219","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q197536","display_name":"Deep learning","level":2,"score":0.3057999908924103},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780350682","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q354231","display_name":"Echoencephalography","level":2,"score":0.27869999408721924},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C19527891","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1120908","display_name":"Medical physics","level":1,"score":0.27459999918937683},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154504017","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q853614","display_name":"Identifier","level":2,"score":0.2694999873638153},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777212361","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5127848","display_name":"Class (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.26190000772476196},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C126838900","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q77604","display_name":"Radiology","level":1,"score":0.2500999867916107}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S147897268","display_name":"Neural Computing and Applications","issn_l":"0941-0643","issn":["0941-0643","1433-3058"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Neural Computing and Applications","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:u-pad.unimc.it:11393/378793","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/11393/378793","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4377196455","display_name":"U-PAD Unimc - Open Digital Publications (University of Macerata)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I55133342","host_organization_name":"University of Macerata","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I55133342"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"info:eu-repo/semantics/article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00521-026-12210-z.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S147897268","display_name":"Neural Computing and Applications","issn_l":"0941-0643","issn":["0941-0643","1433-3058"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Neural Computing and Applications","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[{"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/10","display_name":"Reduced inequalities","score":0.5695858597755432}],"awards":[],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320323420","display_name":"Universit\u00e0 Politecnica delle Marche","ror":"https://ror.org/00x69rs40"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7164664974.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7164664974.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":34,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2068061882","https://openalex.org/W2294318823","https://openalex.org/W2523856253","https://openalex.org/W2580088840","https://openalex.org/W2598799153","https://openalex.org/W2735582614","https://openalex.org/W3036165397","https://openalex.org/W3082665019","https://openalex.org/W3159481202","https://openalex.org/W3202688103","https://openalex.org/W4220950432","https://openalex.org/W4306194578","https://openalex.org/W4320914483","https://openalex.org/W4379653981","https://openalex.org/W4385628415","https://openalex.org/W4385798039","https://openalex.org/W4387580644","https://openalex.org/W4387602683","https://openalex.org/W4387641399","https://openalex.org/W4392207677","https://openalex.org/W4393241182","https://openalex.org/W4394617205","https://openalex.org/W4396936305","https://openalex.org/W4400213551","https://openalex.org/W4400316889","https://openalex.org/W4402739524","https://openalex.org/W4403063141","https://openalex.org/W4403095455","https://openalex.org/W4404317431","https://openalex.org/W4407161327","https://openalex.org/W4410565684","https://openalex.org/W4411274632","https://openalex.org/W4414364940","https://openalex.org/W4416767952"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Abstract":[0],"This":[1,183],"study":[2],"provides":[3],"the":[4,202,211,245],"first":[5],"comprehensive":[6],"evaluation":[7],"of":[8,174],"foundation":[9,24,228],"models":[10,25,229],"in":[11,115],"fetal":[12,55,89,160,253],"ultrasound":[13,90,161],"(US)":[14],"imaging":[15],"under":[16,142,233],"low":[17,234],"inter-class":[18,235],"variability":[19],"conditions.":[20],"While":[21],"recent":[22],"vision":[23],"such":[26],"as":[27],"DINOv3":[28,112,155],"have":[29],"shown":[30],"remarkable":[31],"transferability":[32],"across":[33],"medical":[34],"domains,":[35],"their":[36],"ability":[37],"to":[38,119,176,197,231],"discriminate":[39],"anatomically":[40],"similar":[41],"structures":[42],"has":[43],"not":[44],"been":[45],"systematically":[46],"investigated.":[47],"We":[48],"address":[49],"this":[50],"gap":[51],"by":[52],"focusing":[53],"on":[54,148,159,167,201],"brain":[56,254],"standard":[57],"planes\u2013transthalamic":[58],"(TT),":[59],"transventricular":[60],"(TV),":[61],"and":[62,70,83,94,139,150,214,247],"transcerebellar":[63],"(TC)\u2013which":[64],"exhibit":[65],"highly":[66],"overlapping":[67],"anatomical":[68],"features":[69,125],"pose":[71],"a":[72,81,97,116,198,240],"critical":[73,187],"challenge":[74],"for":[75,181,188,218,243,252],"reliable":[76,249],"biometric":[77,255],"assessment.":[78,256],"To":[79],"ensure":[80],"fair":[82],"reproducible":[84],"evaluation,":[85],"all":[86],"publicly":[87],"available":[88],"datasets":[91],"were":[92,126],"curated":[93],"aggregated":[95],"into":[96],"unified":[98],"multicenter":[99],"benchmark,":[100],"FetalUS-188K,":[101],"comprising":[102],"more":[103],"than":[104],"188,000":[105],"annotated":[106],"images":[107],"from":[108,153],"heterogeneous":[109],"acquisition":[110],"settings.":[111],"was":[113],"pretrained":[114,158],"self-supervised":[117],"manner":[118],"learn":[120],"ultrasound-aware":[121],"representations.":[122],"The":[123],"learned":[124],"then":[127],"evaluated":[128],"through":[129],"standardized":[130],"adaptation":[131],"protocols,":[132],"including":[133],"linear":[134],"probing":[135],"with":[136],"frozen":[137],"backbone":[138],"full":[140],"fine-tuning,":[141],"two":[143],"initialization":[144,152],"schemes:":[145],"(i)":[146],"pretraining":[147,185,238],"FetalUS-188K":[149],"(ii)":[151],"natural-image":[154,194],"weights.":[156],"Models":[157],"data":[162],"consistently":[163],"outperformed":[164],"those":[165],"initialized":[166],"natural":[168],"images,":[169],"yielding":[170],"weighted":[171],"F1-score":[172],"improvements":[173],"up":[175],"21%":[177],"(0.73":[178],"vs.":[179],"0.52":[180],"ViT-B/16).":[182],"domain-adaptive":[184],"proved":[186],"resolving":[189],"low-margin":[190],"class":[191],"boundaries;":[192],"while":[193,226],"weights":[195],"led":[196],"representational":[199],"collapse":[200],"TV":[203],"plane":[204],"(F1-score":[205],"$$\\le$$":[206],"16%),":[207],"our":[208],"approach":[209],"preserved":[210],"subtle":[212],"echogenic":[213],"structural":[215],"cues":[216],"necessary":[217],"its":[219],"accurate":[220],"discrimination.":[221],"These":[222],"results":[223],"demonstrate":[224],"that":[225],"generic":[227],"fail":[230],"generalize":[232],"variability,":[236],"domain-specific":[237],"is":[239],"technical":[241],"prerequisite":[242],"achieving":[244],"robust":[246],"clinically":[248],"representations":[250],"required":[251]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-06-14T06:15:56.279521","created_date":"2026-06-14T00:00:00"}
