A novel multiphase active contour model for inhomogeneous image segmentation

The problem of image segmentation has been investigated with a focus on inhomogeneous multiphase image segmentation. Intensity inhomogeneity is an undesired phenomenon that represents the main obstacle for magnetic resonance (MR) and natural images segmentation. The complex images usually contain an arbitrary number of objects. This paper presents a new multiphase active contour model method for simultaneous regions classification of MR images and natural images without bias field correction. In this model, a simple and effective initialization method is taken to speed up the curve evolution toward final results; a new multiphase level set method is proposed to segment the multiple regions. This model not only extracts multiple objects simultaneously, but also provides smooth and accurate boundaries of the objects. The results for experiments on several synthetic and real images demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of our model.     

基于参数活动轮廓模型的图像分割新方法

针对目前基于参数活动轮廓模型(PACM)的图像分割方法不能精确定位到角点,不连续边缘易受周围无关信息影响的缺陷,提出一种基于参数活动轮廓模型的图像分割新方法。该方法首先构造边缘保护项,将其引入到图像分割的活动轮廓模型中,保留拉普拉斯扩散项的切线方向分量;再引入两个权重参数控制切线方向和法线方向有偏的扩散,以提高分割的精度和效率。实验结果表明,该模型不仅能检测到弱边缘,精确定位到角点,而且能收敛到深度的凹形边界,降低无关信息对边缘不连续处的影响,防止边缘泄露,很好地保护图像细节,收敛的效率和准确率比边缘保护梯度向量流模型、法向梯度向量流模型及其改进模型有明显提高。     

一种改进的活动轮廓模型图像分割方法

基于全局信息的活动轮廓模型不能有效分割灰度不均匀图像,而基于局部信息的活动轮廓模型对轮廓初始化位置比较敏感。为此,提出结合全局信息和局部信息,构造新的符号压力函数（Signed Pressure Force,SPF）,替代Selective Binary and Gaussian Filtering Regularized Level Set（SBGFRLS）模型中的符号压力函数,同时构造一种新的气球力函数,并采用SBGFRLS水平集方法演化轮廓曲线来分割图像的方法。实验结果证明该方法能有效分割灰度不均图像,同时对轮廓初始化位置不敏感,对噪声有较好的抗干扰性。     

基于动态轮廓模型的羽毛分割改进算法

从羽毛图像中分割毛杆适合采用动态轮廓模型,而原始原模型易受局部强边缘干扰产生偏差,且计算规模偏大。根据毛杆的特性,提出用毛杆中心线和毛杆宽度来代替毛杆轮廓,把模型中二维轮廓曲线变化成两个相互独立的一维函数,并据此修改能量方程。改进算法利用对称性避免强边缘干扰,减少了计算规模,能实现全自动分割。实验表明该算法具有较强的抗噪性,使分割毛杆效果良好,能满足工业需要。     

基于贝塞尔滤波改进的测地活动轮廓图像分割模型

活动轮廓模型广泛应用于图像分割和目标轮廓提取,基于边缘的测地活动轮廓（GAC）模型在提取边缘明显的物体时得到广泛的应用,但GAC演化过程中,迭代次数较多,耗时较长。针对这一问题,结合贝塞尔滤波理论,对GAC模型改进。首先,利用贝塞尔滤波对图像进行平滑处理,降低噪声;其次,基于贝塞尔滤波的边缘检测函数,构建新的边缘停止项,且并入到GAC模型中;最后,在构造的模型中同时加入反应扩散（RD）项以避免水平集重新初始化。实验结果表明,与多个基于边缘的模型相比,所提模型在保证分割结果精确度的同时,提高了时间效率,更适用于实际应用。     

一种区域自适应主动轮廓模型的图像分割方法

为了有效地分割灰度不均匀图像,提出了一种区域自适应主动轮廓模型,在该模型中,定义了一个包含全局能量项和局部能量项的能量泛函。在算法的初期,全局能量项占主导地位,它具有收敛速度快、对初始轮廓不敏感的优点。在算法的后期,局部能量项占主导地位,它具有定位精度高的优点。理论分析和实验结果表明,该模型具有收敛速度快、分割精度高、对初始轮廓不敏感等优点。     

A novel region-based active contour model based on kernel function for image segmentation

It is a difficult task to accurately segment images with intensity inhomogeneity, because most of existing algorithms are based upon the assumption of the homogeneity of image intensity. In this paper, we propose a novel region-based active contour model, referred to as the K-GLIF, which utilizes both global and local image intensity fittings with kernel functions. The model consists of an intensity fitting term and a new regularization term. The intensity fitting term of the level set function is the gradient descent flow that minimizes the global binary fitting energy functional. The local intensity fitting value based on the generalized Gaussian kernel function is then incorporated into the global intensity fitting value to form the weighted intensity fitting value on the two sides of the contour. Owing to the kernel function, the intensity information in local regions is extracted to guide the motion of the contour, which enables the model to effectively segment images with intensity inhomogeneity and smooth noise. A new regularization term is used to control the smoothness of the level set function and avoid complicated re-initialization. Experimental results and comparisons with other models of inhomogeneous images, synthetic images, medical images, multi-object images, natural and infrared images show that the proposed K-GLIF model improves the quality of image segmentation in terms of accuracy and robustness of initial contours.

     

Color clustering and learning for image segmentation based on neural networks

An image segmentation system is proposed for the segmentation of color image based on neural networks. In order to measure the color difference properly, image colors are represented in a modified L/sup */u/sup */v/sup */ color space. The segmentation system comprises unsupervised segmentation and supervised segmentation. The unsupervised segmentation is achieved by a two-level approach, i.e., color reduction and color clustering. In color reduction, image colors are projected into a small set of prototypes using self-organizing map (SOM) learning. In color clustering, simulated annealing (SA) seeks the optimal clusters from SOM prototypes. This two-level approach takes the advantages of SOM and SA, which can achieve the near-optimal segmentation with a low computational cost. The supervised segmentation involves color learning and pixel classification. In color learning, color prototype is defined to represent a spherical region in color space. A procedure of hierarchical prototype learning (HPL) is used to generate the different sizes of color prototypes from the sample of object colors. These color prototypes provide a good estimate for object colors. The image pixels are classified by the matching of color prototypes. The experimental results show that the system has the desired ability for the segmentation of color image in a variety of vision tasks.     

Robust global and local fuzzy energy based active contour for image segmentation

Though various image segmentation techniques have been developed, it is still a very challenging task to design a robust and efficient algorithm to segment (noisy, blurred or even discontinuous edged) images having high intensity inhomogeneity or non-homogeneity. In this article, a robust fuzzy energy based active contour, using both global and local information, is proposed to detect objects in a given image based on curve evolution. The local energy is generated by considering both local spatial and gray level/color information. The proposed model can better deal with images having high intensity inhomogeneity or non-homogeneity, noise and blurred boundary or discontinuous edges by incorporating local energy term in the proposed active contour energy function. The global energy term is used to avoid unsatisfactory results due to bad initialization. In this article, instead of solving the Euler–Lagrange equation, a level set based optimization is used for the convergence. We show a realization of the proposed method and demonstrate its performance (both qualitatively and quantitatively) with respect to state-of-the-art techniques on several images having such kind of artifacts. Analysis of results concludes that the proposed method can detect objects from given images in a better way than the existing ones.     

基于超像素的多主体图像交互分割

目的 为解决多主体图像的交互分割问题,在保证分割效果的前提上,提高分割的效率,达到实时交互修改分割结果的目的, 提出基于超像素的图像多主体交互分割算法.方法 基于图像的超像素构造一个多层流网络,利用用户交互绘制的简单笔画给出多主体分割的指导信息.流网络的边权值保证利用图割算法将图像分割成多个部分后,每个部分代表图像的一个主体.允许用户交互给出标记,实时修改分割结果,直到得到满意的多主体分割.结果 通过实验显示,本文方法能得到的满意多主体分割结果,而且时间效率较高.对分辨率为449×275的图像,算法能在1 s内给出结果,满足实时修改的要求.结论 基于超像素建立的图规模较小,能大大减少图割算法的运行时间,达到用户实时交互添加新笔画信息,交互地修正分割结果的目的.利用超像素的边界信息,用户只需输入比较简单的笔画信息,分割算法就能得到正确的多主体分割结果.     

基于Gabor小波的几何活动围道纹理图像分割方法

用活动围道分割纹理图像时,纹理经常被分割为一个个独立的区域,影响了分割的质量。针对此问题,提出了一种基于Gabor小波的几何活动围道分割新方法。该方法先用Gabor小波对纹理图像进行特征提取,再用几何活动围道模型进行分割,模型求解时采用了无需初始化的曲线演化方法,减少了计算量。对自然界真实图像和合成纹理图像的分割实验结果说明,与传统几何模型分割法相比,提出的分割方法精度高、速度快。     

基于形状共享初始化主动轮廓模型的图像分割方法

就初始轮廓提出了一种新的基于形状共享思想的初始轮廓学习方法.利用不同种类的物体全局形状或局部形状可能相似的现象,首先提取测试图像的局部形状;再找出样本库中与其局部形状相匹配的局部形状集;根据测试图片与样本图片中局部形状的相对位置及大小,进行全局形状映射;最后依照全局形状的覆盖率分组,融合成一系列初始形状.将这一系列的初始轮廓作为主动轮廓模型的初始迭代函数.另外,该主动轮廓模型结合了测试图像的边缘信息与区域信息,利用彩色梯度表示边缘的变化.从实验结果可以看出,将学习到的初始轮廓加入混杂主动轮廓中能包含更丰富的形状信息,可获得更准确的分割结果,收敛速度更快.     

Probability density difference-based active contour for ultrasound image segmentation

Because of its low signal/noise ratio, low contrast and blurry boundaries, ultrasound (US) image segmentation is a difficult task. In this paper, a novel level set-based active contour model is proposed for breast ultrasound (BUS) image segmentation. At first, an energy function is formulated according to the differences between the actual and estimated probability densities of the intensities in different regions. The actual probability densities are calculated directly. For calculating the estimated probability densities, the probability density estimation method and background knowledge are utilized. The energy function is formulated with level set approach, and a partial differential equation is derived for finding the minimum of the energy function. For performing numerical computation, the derived partial differential equation is approximated by the central difference and non-re-initialization approach. The proposed method was operated on both the synthetic images and clinical BUS images for studying its characteristics and evaluating its performance. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can model the BUS images well, be robust to noise, and segment the BUS images accurately and reliably.     

改进的几何活动轮廓模型图像分割算法

针对C-V模型不能有效地分割多灰度级图像以及抗噪性不强的问题,分别引入了一个以高斯函数为核函数的局部二值拟合能量项和一个边缘停止函数。利用局部窗函数内的加权均值取代C-V模型的全局均值,并加入了距离函数补偿项,避免了水平集函数的重新初始化,同时将图像的边缘信息融入到C-V模型中,克服了传统的C-V模型无法利用图像梯度信息的不足。实验证明,改进的模型和LBF模型在血管图的分割的效果明显好于C-V模型,在分割时间上,改进的模型也少于LBF模型和C-V模型;对于灰度分布不均匀以及含有噪声的图像,无论是在分割的速度还是分割的效果上,改进的模型均明显优于C-V模型和LBF模型。     

一种基于主动轮廓模型的蚁群图像分割算法

通过对主动轮廓模型进行图像分割的过程研究发现,其多阶段决策问题与蚁群算法的决策过程非常相似．文中根据主动轮廓模型的特点构建了一类新的蚁群求解算法,把图像分割问题转化成最优路径的搜索问题,为获取精确的图像轮廓提供了新方法．证明了该方法以概率1收敛到最优解,即可以在能量函数的约束下找到最好的边界．本方法还可以推广到其他主动轮廓模型的图像分割问题中．仿真结果表明,本文提出的分割方法比文献中的遗传算法更为有效．     

小波神经网络自学习算法用于红外图像分割

在红外动目标序列图像跟踪过程中,由于目标本身的红外特征具有较大的不可预测性,使ATR系统在目标探测阶段产生大量的虚警讯息。因此,必须设法在复杂背景抑制段将虚警探测讯息滤除掉。提出了一种新颖的基于小波神经网络构架的FLIR图像分割技术,旨在将小波变换的时-频局域特性和神经网络的自学习能力相结合,从而使FLIR图像的分割算法具有较强的逼近和容错能力。该算法在FLIR-ATR系统中得到应用,对于FLIR目标图像轮廓的提取和抑制杂散背景方面获得了良好的效果。     

形状约束下活动轮廓模型冠脉血管图像多尺度分割

目的 由于计算机断层血管造影(CTA)图像的复杂性,临床诊断冠脉疾病往往需要经验丰富的医师对冠状动脉进行手动分割,快速、准确自动分割出冠状动脉对提高冠脉疾病诊断效率具有重要意义。针对双源CT图像特点以及传统单一基于区域或边界的活动轮廓模型的不足,研究了心脏冠脉3维分割算法,提出一种基于血管形状约束的活动轮廓模型分割方法。方法 首先,利用改进的FCM(fuzzy C-means)对心脏CT图像感兴趣区域初分割,其结果用于初始化C-V模型水平集演化曲线及控制参数,提取感兴趣区域轮廓。接着,由3维心脏图像数据获取多尺度梯度矢量信息构造边界型能量泛函,然后利用基于Hessian矩阵的多尺度血管函数对心脏感兴趣区域3维体数据增强滤波,获取血管先验形状信息用于约束能量泛函。最后融合边界、区域能量泛函并利用变分原理及水平集方法得到适合冠脉血管分割的水平集演化方程。结果 由于血管图像的灰度不均匀,血管末端区域更为细小,所以上述算法的实施是面向被划分多个子区域的血管,在缩小的范围内进行轮廓的演化。相比于传统的血管分割方法,该方法充分融合血管图像的先验信息及梯度场信息,能够从灰度及造影剂分布不均匀的冠脉血管图像中准确分割出冠状动脉,对于细小的血管结构亦能获得较好的分割效果。实验结果表明,该方法只需在给定初始轮廓前提下,有效提取3维冠脉血管。结论 对多组心脏CT图像进行分割,本文基于血管先验形状约束的活动轮廓模型可以准确分割出冠脉结构完整轮廓,并且人工交互简单。该方法在双源CT冠脉图像自动分割方面具有较好的正确率与优越性。     

基于核自组织映射的有监督主动轮廓图像分割

针对灰度不均匀目标和多灰度强度目标利用主动轮廓难以精确分割的问题,提出了一种基于核自组织映射（KSOM）的有监督主动轮廓算法KSOAC。首先对背景区域和前景区域的先验样本分别利用KSOM进行训练,得到其各自的拓扑映射结构来表征其分布,从而获得突触权值向量;其次提出计算两个网络结构单位像素的平均训练误差,把该误差加入能量函数修正曲线进化过程,并利用前景和背景的面积比得出能量项的控制参数;最后推导出了利用神经元权值向量的有监督主动轮廓能量函数和迭代方程,并采用Matlab 7.11.0对多幅图像进行了仿真验证。仿真结果和数据表明,与自组织映射（SOM）主动轮廓（SOAC）相比,KSOM得到的映射更接近于先验样本的分布,误差更小;KSOAC的准确率、查全率和F参数均大于0.9,分割结果更接近目标本身;在时间消耗方面与SOAC相差不大。实验结果表明,KSOAC能够提高概率分布未知图像、非均匀图像和多灰度强度目标分割效果,减少目标泄露。     

Efficient numerical schemes for Chan-Vese active contour models in image segmentation

Multimedia Tools and Applications - In this paper, we introduce multi-symplectic Lagrangian variational integrators for solving Chan-Vese active contour models in image segmentation. Energy...     

Novel fuzzy active contour model with kernel metric for image segmentation

In this paper, a novel region-based fuzzy active contour model with kernel metric is proposed for a robust and stable image segmentation. This model can detect the boundaries precisely and work well with images in the presence of noise, outliers and low contrast. It segments an image into two regions – the object and the background by the minimization of a predefined energy function. Due to the kernel metric incorporated in the energy and the fuzziness of the energy, the active contour evolves very stably without the reinitialization for the level set function during the evolution. Here the fuzziness provides the model with a strong ability to reject local minima and the kernel metric is employed to construct a nonlinear version of energy function based on a level set framework. This new fuzzy and nonlinear version of energy function makes the updating of region centers more robust against the noise and outliers in an image. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed model achieves a much better balance between accuracy and efficiency compared with other active contour models.