A robust hybrid active contour model based on pre-fitting bias field correction for fast image segmentation

An array of existing active contour models is prone to suffering from the deficiencies of poor anti-noise ability, initialization sensitivity, and slow convergence. In order to handle these problems, a robust hybrid active contour method based on bias correction is proposed in this research paper The energy functional is formulated through incorporating the adaptive edge indicator function and level set formulation driven by bias field correction. The adaptive edge indicator function, which is formulated based on image gradient information, is utilized to detect object boundaries and accelerate the segmentation in the homogeneous region. The level set formulation is constructed based on an improved criterion function, in which bias field information is considered. Specifically, the bias field distribution is approximated through the local mean gray value algorithm as a prior. Moreover, a new regularized function is proposed so as to maintain the stability of curve evolution. The segmentation process is implemented by the optimized energy function and the novel regularized term. Compared to previous active contour models, the modified active contour method can yield more precise, stable, and efficient segmentation results on some challenging images.     

基于相位一致性改进的活动轮廓分割模型

为了实现甲状腺超声图像中结节组织的快速准确分割,克服图像灰度分布不均匀和边缘模糊对分割结果造成的影响,采用了基于相位一致性改进的活动轮廓分割模型。首先,利用相位一致性边缘检测原理构造一种新的速度函数,不仅弥补了梯度算子边缘检测中由于滤波处理造成边缘损坏的缺陷,而且可以灵活地控制曲线演化速率;然后,将该速度函数乘入到无边缘主动轮廓模型的能量项中,避免了线性组合中的权重分配问题,同时具有全局分割能力。通过理论分析和实验验证,改进模型的相对差异度均小于1%,运行时间均低于对比模型。结果表明,新模型实现了灰度分布不均匀图像的精确分割,同时分割效率也有所提高。     

Unsupervised contour closure algorithm for range image edge-based segmentation.

This paper presents an efficient technique for extracting closed contours from range images' edge points. Edge points are assumed to be given as input to the algorithm (i.e., previously computed by an edge-based range image segmentation technique). The proposed approach consists of three steps. Initially, a partially connected graph is generated from those input points. Then, the minimum spanning tree of that graph is computed. Finally, a postprocessing technique generates a single path through the regions' boundaries by removing noisy links and closing open contours. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in the fact that, by representing edge points as nodes of a partially connected graph, it reduces the contour closure problem to a minimum spanning tree partitioning problem plus a cost function minimization stage to generate closed contours. Experimental results with synthetic and real range images, together with comparisons with a previous technique, are presented.     

基于改进主动轮廓模型的图像分割算法

针对C-V模型对灰度不均匀的图像分割效果不理想的情况,提出一种改进的C-V模型.该模型在C-V模型的基础上,引入非加权的邻域平均和局部窗口方差概念,加快并精确了C-V模型的演化效果,同时在C-V模型的能量函数中加入惩罚项,使得C-V模型在演化过程中无须重新初始化,进一步提高了分割速度.仿真实验结果表明改进的C-V模型较原模型对灰度不均匀图像分割具有较好的分割效果.     

基于主动轮廓模型的红外图像轮廓提取算法

针对主动轮廓模型存在的对初始轮廓位置敏感、凹性目标轮廓无法正确收敛等问题,本文将自适应边缘检测和主动轮廓模型相融合,提出一种改进的红外图像目标轮廓自动提取算法。首先,采用最大类间方差法计算红外图像边缘检测算法的自适应阈值,获取目标初次边缘,降低对初始轮廓位置的敏感性;对初次边缘分别进行横向与纵向填充,填充图像相与运算,对得到目标区域提取二次边缘,将其作为主动轮廓模型的初始轮廓,保证目标凹陷区域轮廓的有效收敛。最后,通过仿真分析验证了该方法能够实现红外目标轮廓的精确自动收敛。     

基于小波域和活动轮廓模型的纹理图像分割

提出一种双树复小波域局部二值模式和活动轮廓模型的纹理图像分割方法.该方法首先使用双树复合小波分解纹理图像,然后使用局部二值模式提取纹理特征.利用最大熵准则对纹理特征图像进行选择,活动轮廓模型用于最后的分割.实验结果表明提出的方法对于合成纹理和自然场景数据集,达到了较高的分割精度.     

Multigrid geometric active contour models.

Geometric active contour models are very popular partial differential equation-based tools in image analysis and computer vision. We present a new multigrid algorithm for the fast evolution of level-set-based geometric active contours and compare it with other established numerical schemes. We overcome the main bottleneck associated with most numerical implementations of geometric active contours, namely the need for very small time steps to avoid instability, by employing a very stable fully 2-D implicit-explicit time integration numerical scheme. The proposed scheme is more accurate and has improved rotational invariance properties compared with alternative split schemes, particularly when big time steps are utilized. We then apply properly designed multigrid methods to efficiently solve the occurring sparse linear system. The combined algorithm allows for the rapid evolution of the contour and convergence to its final configuration after very few iterations. Image segmentation experiments demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method.     

Integrating machine learning with region-based active contour models in medical image segmentation

Region-based active contour models are effective in segmenting images with poorly defined boundaries but often fail when applied to images containing intensity inhomogeneity. The traditional models utilize pixel intensity and are very sensitive to parameter tuning. On the other hand, machine learning algorithms are highly effective in handling inhomogeneities but often result in noise from misclassified pixels. In addition, there is no objective function. We propose a framework which integrates machine learning with a region-based active contour model. Classification probability scores from machine learning algorithm, which are regularized using a non-linear function, are used to replace the pixel intensity values during energy minimization. In our experiments, we integrate the k-nearest neighbours and the support vector machine with the Chan-Vese method and compare the results obtained with the traditional methods of Chan-Vese and Li et al. The proposed framework gives better accuracy and less sensitive to parameter tuning.     

Moving object segmentation and detection for monocular robot based on active contour model

A novel geodesic active contour model based on optical flow information is proposed to segment and detect the moving object for monocular robots. More specifically, an active contour is formulated using the level set method, which eliminates the need of re-initialisation. The developed scheme alleviates the effect of optical flow noise, increasing the robustness of the detection of moving objects. Experimental results show that this algorithm can successfully track a moving target, e.g. a human being.     

A novel texture segmentation method based on co-occurrence energy-driven parametric active contour model

In this paper, a novel approach to texture segmentation based on the parametric active contour model (ACM) is proposed. At first, gray-level co-occurrence matrix and subsequently co-occurrence energy of the regions inside and outside of the dynamic contour are calculated. Difference of this energy corresponding to both the regions is used as the external energy of the proposed ACM. The contour stops and converges completely when this difference attains a maximum value. The proposed approach requires only initial contour selection and no object point selection like the other variants of parametric ACM used for texture segmentation. Experiments on a number of synthetic and real-world texture images show that in all cases, we are getting a better segmentation of the object although for few cases the execution time is bit more than that of other existing methods.     

Towards multi-stage texture-based active contour image segmentation

In this paper, we present a three-stage approach to incorporation of texture analysis into a two-dimensional active contour segmentation framework. This approach allows to utilise texture information alongside other image features. The proposed method starts with an initial unsupervised feature computation and selection, then moves to a fast contour evolution process and ends with a final refinement stage. The algorithm is designed to be general in its nature and not restricted to any particular texture feature extraction method. In this paper, the initial stage generates a set of feature maps consisting of grey-level co-occurrence matrix and Gabor features. The implementation makes an extensive use of hardware acceleration for efficient calculation of a relatively large number of features. The performance of the method was tested on various synthetic and natural images and compared with results of other algorithms.     

Vascular active contour for vessel tree segmentation

In this paper, a novel active contour model is proposed for vessel tree segmentation. First, we introduce a region competition-based active contour model exploiting the gaussian mixture model, which mainly segments thick vessels. Second, we define a vascular vector field to evolve the active contour along its center line into the thin and weak vessels. The vector field is derived from the eigenanalysis of the Hessian matrix of the image intensity in a multiscale framework. Finally, a dual curvature strategy, which uses a vesselness measure-dependent function selecting between a minimal principal curvature and a mean curvature criterion, is added to smoothen the surface of the vessel without changing its shape. The developed model is used to extract the liver and lung vessel tree as well as the coronary artery from high-resolution volumetric computed tomography images. Comparisons are made with several classical active contour models and manual extraction. The experiments show that our model is more accurate and robust than these classical models and is, therefore, more suited for automatic vessel tree extraction.     

High speed VLSI architecture for improved region based active contour segmentation technique

Active contour segmentation is an important stage in image analysis applications. In this article, an improved region based active contour segmentation is proposed. The proposed active contour model speeds up the contour convergence by up to 40% while maintaining the advantages of a local region based active contour model by reducing the number of iterations. Moreover, we propose a low-complexity pipelined VLSI architecture for improved region based active contour model targeting FPGA and 90 nm ASIC platforms. The proposed pipelined design offers an increased speed of operation. Its complexity is independent of the size of image.     

A hybrid active contour model based on global and local information for medical image segmentation

Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing - For segmenting medical images with abundant noise, blurry boundaries, and intensity heterogeneities effectively, a hybrid active contour model that...     

Unsupervised texture segmentation using multichannel decompositionand hidden Markov models

In this paper, we describe an automatic unsupervised texture segmentation scheme using hidden Markov models (HMMs). First, the feature map of the image is formed using Laws' micromasks and directional macromasks. Each pixel in the feature map is represented by a sequence of 4-D feature vectors. The feature sequences belonging to the same texture are modeled as an HMM. Thus, if there are M different textures present in an image, there are M distinct HMMs to be found and trained. Consequently, the unsupervised texture segmentation problem becomes an HMM-based problem, where the appropriate number of HMMs, the associated model parameters, and the discrimination among the HMMs become the foci of our scheme. A two-stage segmentation procedure is used. First, coarse segmentation is used to obtain the approximate number of HMMs and their associated model parameters. Then, fine segmentation is used to accurately estimate the number of HMMs and the model parameters. In these two stages, the critical task of merging the similar HMMs is accomplished by comparing the discrimination information (DI) between the two HMMs against a threshold computed from the distribution of all DI's. A postprocessing stage of multiscale majority filtering is used to further enhance the segmented result. The proposed scheme is highly suitable for pipeline/parallel implementation. Detailed experimental results are reported. These results indicate that the present scheme compares favorably with respect to other successful schemes reported in the literature.     

Unsupervised regions based segmentation using object discovery

We present a new unsupervised algorithm to discovery and segment out common objects from multiple images. Compared with previous cosegmentation methods, our algorithm performs well even when the appearance variations in the foregrounds are more substantial than those in some areas of the backgrounds. Our algorithm mainly includes two parts: the foreground object discovery scheme and the iterative region allocation algorithm. Two terms, a region-saliency prior and a region-repeatness measure, are introduced in the foreground object discovery scheme to detect the foregrounds without any supervisory information. The iterative region allocation algorithm searches the optimal solution for the final segmentation with the constraints from a maximal spanning tree, and an effective color-based model is utilized during this process. The comparative experimental results show that the proposed algorithm matches or outperforms several previous methods on several standard datasets.     

NMR image segmentation based on Unsupervised Extreme Learning Machine

Unsupervised Extreme Learning Machine (US-ELM) is a machine learning method widely used. With good performance in anti-noise and data representation, as well as fast clustering speed, US-ELM is suitable for processing noise containing nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) image. Therefore, in this paper, a brain NMR image segmentation approach based on US-ELM is proposed. Firstly, a median filter is adopted to reduce the influence of noise; Secondly, US-ELM maps the original data into the embedded space, which makes it increasingly effective to represent the characteristic of pixel points, and then uses the k-means method to perform the image segmentation, named NS-UE; After that, spatial fuzzy C-means (spFCM) provides a better solution for handling NMR image with noise caused by the intensity inhomogeneity than k-means does. As a result, an image segmentation approach based on US-ELM and spFCM (NS-UF) is proposed, so as to improve the effect of clustering in embedded space. Finally, extensive experiments on real data demonstrated the efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed approaches with various experimental settings.     

基于残差网络的无监督角膜视频分割算法

基于角膜形变计算出一系列生物力学特性参数是训练早期圆锥角膜分类模型的数据基础,因此圆锥角膜轮廓分割的精确性直接影响着早期圆锥角膜分类模型的准确性。本文提出了一种基于残差网络的无监督角膜视频分割方法。通过统一的网格化采样提取一组锚点被同序列视频帧所共用,从而减小网络模型学习特征表示的计算量并且提高了计算效率。同时设计了一个正则化分支对原有的视频集进行相似性转换来解决可能存在的退化解问题。与已有的无监督视频分割任务相比,本实验模型使用了少量的训练数据,但却取得了更高的分割精度和计算效率。