Fast level set image and video segmentation using new evolution indicator operators

We propose an effective level set evolution method for robust object segmentation in real images. We construct an effective region indicator and an multiscale edge indicator, and use these two indicators to adaptively guide the evolution of the level set function. The multiscale edge indicator is defined in the gradient domain of the multiscale feature-preserving filtered image. The region indicator is built on the similarity map between image pixels and user specified interest regions, where the similarity map is computed using Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM). Then we combine these two methods to develop a new mixing edge stop function, which makes the level set method more robust to initial active contour setting, and forces the level set to evolve adaptively based on the image content. Furthermore, we apply an acceleration approach to speed up our evolution process, which yields real time segmentation performance. Finally, we extend the proposed approach to video segmentation for achieving effective target tracking results. As the results show, our approach is effective for image and video segmentation and works well to accurately detect the complex object boundaries in real-time.     

基于时空域暗示的运动对象检测和分割*

通过对视频帧间的时域信息和帧内的空域信息的充分开发,提出一种任意视频对象检测与分割算法。初始的运动区域评估利用时间加权的时域帧窗,采用基于点的分割;而近似同质颜色亮度纹理区域利用区域之间的差异和区域内的相似,采用改进的分水岭分割和基于区域特征相似度的合并。时域和空域分割结果的合并基于多数原则。最后,分割结果的完善和修正基于时域的持续性和空域上的一致性标准。通过测试,提出的分割算法获得可靠的对象边界,而且通过调整少量参数,可以适应于室内和室外场景以及高速和低速运动物体。     

Detection of moving objects with a moving camera using non-panoramic background model

This paper presents a fast and reliable method for moving object detection with moving cameras (including pan–tilt–zoom and hand-held cameras). Instead of building large panoramic background model as conventional approaches, we construct a small-size background model, whose size is the same as input frame, to decrease computation time and memory storage without loss of detection performance. The small-size background model is built by the proposed single spatio-temporal distributed Gaussian model and this can solve false detection results arising from registration error and background adaptation problem in moving background. More than the proposed background model based on spatial and temporal information, several pre- and post-processing methods are adopted and organized systematically to enhance the detection performances. We evaluate the proposed method with several video sequences under difficult conditions, such as illumination change, large zoom variation, and fast camera movement, and present outperforming detection results of our algorithm with fast computation time.     

基于非线性扩散滤波的水平集模型MRI分割

基于曲线演化的图像分割模型在分割目标时需要在目标附近人为地构造一条曲线作为初始曲线,在此基础上进行演化得到目标边界.当初始曲线离目标边界较远时,影响模型分割的效率;当初始曲线离目标边界很近时,意味着需要过多的人为操作,这使得其时间效率较低且易出错.为此,在非线性扩散滤波的基础上,给出一种半自动初始曲线构造方法,该方法首先利用AOS算法对图像进行非线性扩散滤波,再利用区域信息快速地得到离目标边界很近的初始曲线.然后构造一种新的基于区域信息的速度函数,由水平集模型对其演化,得到了较好的结果.MRI分割实验表明了方法的有效性.     

基于区域GAC模型的二值化水平集图像分割算法

针对测地线主动轮廓(GAC)模型进行了改进,提出了一种基于区域的GAC模型.通过构造基于区域统计信息的符号压力函数取代边界停止函数,有效解决了弱边界目标或离散状边界目标的分割问题.该模型采用二值化水平集方法实现,避免了传统实现方法水平集函数需要重新初始化为符号距离函数,从而导致稳定性差、计算量大、实现复杂等缺点.对不同类型图像的试验结果表明:该算法迭代收敛速度比GAC模型传统实现方法明显加快,且可有效防止边界泄漏,分割效果优于传统GAC模型与C-V模型.     

Joint segmentation of wind speed and direction using a hierarchical model

The problem of detecting changes in wind speed and direction is considered. Bayesian priors, with various degrees of certainty, are used to represent relationships between the two time series. Segmentation is then conducted using a hierarchical Bayesian model that accounts for correlations between the wind speed and direction. A Gibbs sampling strategy overcomes the computational complexity of the hierarchical model and is used to estimate the unknown parameters and hyperparameters. Extensions to other statistical models are also discussed. These models allow us to study other joint segmentation problems including segmentation of wave amplitude and direction. The performance of the proposed algorithms is illustrated with results obtained with synthetic and real data.     

Joint segmentation of wind speed and direction using a hierarchical model

The problem of detecting changes in wind speed and direction is considered. Bayesian priors, with various degrees of certainty, are used to represent relationships between the two time series. Segmentation is then conducted using a hierarchical Bayesian model that accounts for correlations between the wind speed and direction. A Gibbs sampling strategy overcomes the computational complexity of the hierarchical model and is used to estimate the unknown parameters and hyperparameters. Extensions to other statistical models are also discussed. These models allow us to study other joint segmentation problems including segmentation of wave amplitude and direction. The performance of the proposed algorithms is illustrated with results obtained with synthetic and real data.     

Reservoir description using a binary level set model

We consider the inverse problem of permeability estimation for two-phase flow in porous media. In the parameter estimation process we utilize both data from the wells (production data) and spatially distributed data (from time-lapse seismic data). The problem is solved by approximating the permeability field by a piecewise constant function, where we allow the discontinuity curves to have arbitrary shape with some forced regularity. To achieve this, we have utilized level set functions to represent the permeability field and applied an additional total variation regularization. The optimization problem is solved by a variational augmented Lagrangian approach. A binary level set formulation is used to determine both the curves of discontinuities and the constant values for each region. We do not need any initial guess for the geometries of the discontinuities, only a reasonable guess of the constant levels is required.     

一种双水平集模型分割左心室膜的方法

针对目前左心室内外膜分割方法存在分割出的轮廓正则性差、分割心室膜模糊边缘不完全和分割效率低等问题。提出新双阱势函数和各向异性梯度矢量流（AGVF）改进水平集模型能量函数,用融合0水平集和◢k◣水平集的双水平集同时分割左心室内外膜的方法。首先,用改进Hough变化圆检测算法定位心室内外膜初始位置;然后利用双水平集模型同时分割内外膜。观察和对比分析实验结果,该方法能够分割出平滑的左心室内外膜轮廓;能够分割出符合临床定义的左心室内外膜轮廓,且分割MRI图像左心室内外膜轮廓重叠率平均提高到0.956 9。     

选择性自适应水平集演化模型

自适应距离保持水平集演化模型是在无需初始化模型基础上引入了可变权系数,从而很好地摆脱了演化曲线对初始位置的依赖。该模型存在着一些明显的不足:一是对噪声比较敏感;二是对灰度不均图像分割不准确。基于自适应距离保持水平集演化模型,引入了一个新的可变权系数,据此定义了一个新的边缘停止函数。实验表明,新的自适应距离保持水平集演化模型较好地克服上述两点不足。     

基于Chan-Vese水平集的梯度加速分割模型

为了提高图像分割的速度和精度,提出了一种新的基于Chan-Vese水平集模型(C-V模型)的梯度加速分割模型.首先,在C-V模型的能量函数中加入一个内部能量项,抵消演化过程中水平集函数和符号距离函数的偏差,从而消除分割中周期性重新初始化的过程;其次,提出了梯度加速项,通过感兴趣区域的图像特征,快速得到该区域的边界,且能够提高弱边界的分割精度.实验证明,提出的方法不仅能够加速特定区域的分割、提高分割精度,还能保持分割过程的稳定性.     

Adaptive texture and color segmentation for tracking moving objects

Color segmentation is a very popular technique for real-time object tracking. However, even with adaptive color segmentation schemes, under varying environmental conditions in video sequences, the tracking tends to be unreliable. To overcome this problem, many multiple cue fusion techniques have been suggested. One of the cues that complements color nicely is texture. However, texture segmentation has not been used for object tracking mainly because of the computational complexity of texture segmentation. This paper presents a formulation for fusing texture and color in a manner that makes the segmentation reliable while keeping the computational cost low, with the goal of real-time target tracking. An autobinomial Gibbs Markov random field is used for modeling the texture and a 2D Gaussian distribution is used for modeling the color. This allows a probabilistic fusion of the texture and color cues and for adapting both the texture and color over time for target tracking. Experiments with both static images and dynamic image sequences establish the feasibility of the proposed approach.     

基于水平集的并行融合图像分割

针对复杂背景和多目标空中运动物体的定位和跟踪问题,研究了基于小波变换阈值去噪方法、数学形态学去噪方法与水平集方法结合的图像分割方法,提出了基于小波变换阈值去噪与水平集结合方法以及基于小波变换阈值去噪、数学形态学去噪与水平集结合方法的并行融合图像分割方法,对运动目标进行边缘检测。实验结果说明,基于小波变换、数学形态学与水平集方法结合的并行融合图像分割方法能够有效地提取目标物体的轮廓,抑制背景噪声。     

距离保持水平集演化模型的快速实现算法

针对梯度下降法收敛性较差、对局部极小值比较敏感的问题，提出一种改进NAG算法，并以此替换距离保持水平集演化（DRLSE）模型中的梯度下降算法，进而得到一个基于NAG的图像快速分割算法。首先，给出初始水平集演化方程；其次，用改进NAG算法计算梯度；最后，对水平集函数进行不断更新，从而避免水平集函数陷入局部极小值。实验结果表明，与DRLSE模型中的原算法相比，所提算法迭代次数减少了约30%，CPU运行时间减少了30%以上。该算法实现简单，能够对实时性要求较高的红外图像、医学图像进行快速、有效的分割。     

距离保持水平集演化模型的快速实现算法

针对梯度下降法收敛性较差、对局部极小值比较敏感的问题,提出一种改进NAG算法,并以此替换距离保持水平集演化（DRLSE）模型中的梯度下降算法,进而得到一个基于NAG的图像快速分割算法。首先,给出初始水平集演化方程;其次,用改进NAG算法计算梯度;最后,对水平集函数进行不断更新,从而避免水平集函数陷入局部极小值。实验结果表明,与DRLSE模型中的原算法相比,所提算法迭代次数减少了约30%,CPU运行时间减少了30%以上。该算法实现简单,能够对实时性要求较高的红外图像、医学图像进行快速、有效的分割。     

基于Chan Vese水平集的梯度加速分割模型*

为了提高图像分割的速度和精度,提出了一种新的基于ChanVese水平集模型(CV模型)的梯度加速分割模型。首先,在CV模型的能量函数中加入一个内部能量项,抵消演化过程中水平集函数和符号距离函数的偏差,从而消除分割中周期性重新初始化的过程;其次,提出了梯度加速项,通过感兴趣区域的图像特征,快速得到该区域的边界,且能够提高弱边界的分割精度。实验证明,提出的方法不仅能够加速特定区域的分割、提高分割精度,还能保持分割过程的稳定性。     

水平集函数规则化的C-V主动轮廓模型

Chan与Vese 提出的C-V主动轮廓模型采用传统的水平集方法实现,为了保证水平集函数演化的稳定性,需要加入轮廓的长度项来规则化水平集函数,且在演化的过程中要周期性重新初始化为符号距离函数,从而大大增加了计算量和实现的复杂度。提出一种新的规则化水平集函数的方法,不但可以保证水平集函数演化稳定,而且避免了重新初始化。实验结果表明：该方法稳健、快速。