Segmentation techniques for tissue differentiation in MRI of ophthalmology using fuzzy clustering algorithms

This paper presents MRI segmentation techniques to differentiate abnormal and normal tissues in Ophthalmology using fuzzy clustering algorithms. Applying the best-known fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm, a newly proposed algorithm, called an alternative fuzzy c-mean (AFCM), was used for MRI segmentation in Ophthalmology. These unsupervised segmentation algorithms can help Ophthalmologists to reduce the medical imaging noise effects originating from low resolution sensors and/or the structures that move during the data acquisition. They may be particularly helpful in the clinical oncological field as an aid to the diagnosis of Retinoblastoma, an inborn oncological disease in which symptoms usually show in early childhood. For the purpose of early treatment with radiotherapy and surgery, the newly proposed AFCM is preferred to provide more information for medical images used by Ophthalmologists. Comparisons between FCM and AFCM segmentations are made. Both fuzzy clustering segmentation techniques provide useful information and good results. However, the AFCM method has better detection of abnormal tissues than FCM according to a window selection. Overall, the newly proposed AFCM segmentation technique is recommended in MRI segmentation.     

一种快速提取连续CT脑肿瘤病灶区的算法

脑肿瘤图像提取就是将肿瘤病灶区域(水肿、坏死、癌变)从正常的脑部组织(灰质、白质、脑脊液)分开,精确的脑肿瘤分割对脑瘤的诊断、研究和治疗有重要的临床意义。针对传统脑部CT肿瘤病灶提取的缺点,即需要耗费大量时间并且分割精度不高的问题,提出一种综合了形态学重建、分水岭分割和改进的区域生长算法。先用形态学重建进行去噪,再用结合多尺度梯度分水岭分割提取整个图像的边界,然后在肿瘤病灶区域内选取种子点进行区域生长,提取肿瘤区域轮廓,滤除其他封闭区域,得到的图像作为改进的区域生长法的初始分割区域,使用改进的区域生长法,滤除过分割区域。实验结果显示该算法分割出的结果有效区域大,分割精度高。结论：该算法提高了分割精度,由于不用匹配结构参数,加快了分割速度,具有一定的临床价值。     

Generalized Kohonen's competitive learning algorithms for ophthalmological MR image segmentation

Kohonen's self-organizing map is a two-layer feedforward competitive learning network. It has been used as a competitive learning clustering algorithm. In this paper, we generalize Kohonen's competitive learning (KCL) algorithm with fuzzy and fuzzy-soft types called fuzzy KCL (FKCL) and fuzzy-soft KCL (FSKCL). These generalized KCL algorithms fuse the competitive learning with soft competition and fuzzy c-means (FCM) membership functions. We then apply these generalized KCLs to MRI and MRA ophthalmological segmentations. These KCL-based MRI segmentation techniques are useful in reducing medical image noise effects using a learning mechanism. They may be particularly helpful in clinical diagnosis. Two real cases with MR image data recommended by an ophthalmologist are examined. First case is a patient with Retinoblastoma in her left eye, an inborn malignant neoplasm of the retina frequently metastasis beyond the lacrimal cribrosa. The second case is a patient with complete left side oculomotor palsy immediately after a motor vehicle accident. Her brain MRI with MRA, skull routine, orbital CT, and cerebral angiography did not reveal brainstem lesions, skull fractures, or vascular anomalies. These generalized KCL algorithms were used in segmenting the ophthalmological MRIs. KCL, FKCL and FSKCL comparisons are made. Overall, the FSKCL algorithm is recommended for use in MR image segmentation as an aid to small lesion diagnosis.     

Normalization of brain magnetic resonance images using histogram even-order derivative analysis

The even-ordered (2nd, 4th and 6th) derivatives of a brain MRI histogram were used to calculate a characteristic value for white matter, which was used to normalize the image intensity scale. Simulated image histograms were used to estimate the methodological error as a function of noise level, and the optimum derivative order was determined for each image type studied (T1-, T2- and density-weighted). The algorithm yielded highly reproducible results when used in conjunction with a threshold-sensitive brain segmentation algorithm. It also proved insensitive to the presence of extra-cranial tissues. This method of histogram analysis could find utility in a variety of applications that demand robust intensity normalization including image registration, brain segmentation, tissue classification and spatial inhomogeneity correction.     

Unsupervised MRI segmentation of brain tissues using a local linear model and level set

Real-world magnetic resonance imaging of the brain is affected by intensity nonuniformity (INU) phenomena which makes it difficult to fully automate the segmentation process. This difficult task is accomplished in this work by using a new method with two original features: (1) each brain tissue class is locally modeled using a local linear region representative, which allows us to account for the INU in an implicit way and to more accurately position the region's boundaries; and (2) the region models are embedded in the level set framework, so that the spatial coherence of the segmentation can be controlled in a natural way. Our new method has been tested on the ground-truthed Internet Brain Segmentation Repository (IBSR) database and gave promising results, with Tanimoto indexes ranging from 0.61 to 0.79 for the classification of the white matter and from 0.72 to 0.84 for the gray matter. To our knowledge, this is the first time a region-based level set model has been used to perform the segmentation of real-world MRI brain scans with convincing results.     

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Segmentation via Weighted Level Set Model Based on Local Kernel Metric and Spatial Constraint

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) segmentation is a fundamental and significant task since it can guide subsequent clinic diagnosis and treatment. However, images are often corrupted by defects such as low-contrast, noise, intensity inhomogeneity, and so on. Therefore, a weighted level set model (WLSM) is proposed in this study to segment inhomogeneous intensity MRI destroyed by noise and weak boundaries. First, in order to segment the intertwined regions of brain tissue accurately, a weighted neighborhood information measure scheme based on local multi information and kernel function is designed. Then, the membership function of fuzzy c-means clustering is used as the spatial constraint of level set model to overcome the sensitivity of level set to initialization, and the evolution of level set function can be adaptively changed according to different tissue information. Finally, the distance regularization term in level set function is replaced by a double potential function to ensure the stability of the energy function in the evolution process. Both real and synthetic MRI images can show the effectiveness and performance of WLSM. In addition, compared with several state-of-the-art models, segmentation accuracy and Jaccard similarity coefficient obtained by WLSM are increased by 0.0586, 0.0362 and 0.1087, 0.0703, respectively.     

A segmentation method for noisy photoelectric image

In order to improve the ability of noisy photoelectric image segmentation and satisfy the requirement of human visual apperception, a noisy photoelectric image segmentation method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the basic principle of FCM algorithm is analyzed in detail. Secondly, on the basis of PCM algorithm, only such pixels affected by noise lesser that centralized in the diagonal area of two-dimensional histogram is actualized image processing, and the probability of the pixel that lie in such area is obtained. Thirdly, objective function, membership matrix and cluster centers are renovated on the basis of PCM algorithm. Finally, experiment contrast between our method and other methods is executed, the results of experiment indicate that our method has relatively better segmentation quality and faster segmentation speed.     

水下激光目标的统计对消分割法

水下激光目标的识别是一个崭新的研究领域,有许多问题需要解决,其中,目标分割是关键.水下激光图像中夹杂着严重的散斑噪声,受其影响,要识别水下激光目标,就要对图像进行有效的消噪,然后进行目标分割.本文依据具有相似统计特征的噪声可抵消图像中的相应噪声这一基理,结合小波变换和统计法,提出了一种水下激光目标的统计对消分割法,以去除噪声,提取目标.实验结果表明该方法是有效可行的.     

Brain tissue classification based on DTI using an improved Fuzzy C-means algorithm with spatial constraints

We present an effective method for brain tissue classification based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. The method accounts for two main DTI segmentation obstacles: random noise and magnetic field inhomogeneities. In the proposed method, DTI parametric maps were used to resolve intensity inhomogeneities of brain tissue segmentation because they could provide complementary information for tissues and define accurate tissue maps. An improved fuzzy c-means with spatial constraints proposal was used to enhance the noise and artifact robustness of DTI segmentation. Fuzzy c-means clustering with spatial constraints (FCM_S) could effectively segment images corrupted by noise, outliers, and other imaging artifacts. Its effectiveness contributes not only to the introduction of fuzziness for belongingness of each pixel but also to the exploitation of spatial contextual information. We proposed an improved FCM_S applied on DTI parametric maps, which explores the mean and covariance of the feature spatial information for automated segmentation of DTI. The experiments on synthetic images and real-world datasets showed that our proposed algorithms, especially with new spatial constraints, were more effective.     

MR image-based measurement of rates of change in volumes of brain structures. Part I: method and validation

A detailed analysis procedure is described for evaluating rates of volumetric change in brain structures based on structural magnetic resonance (MR) images. In this procedure, a series of image processing tools have been employed to address the problems encountered in measuring rates of change based on structural MR images. These tools include an algorithm for intensity non-uniformity correction, a robust algorithm for three-dimensional image registration with sub-voxel precision and an algorithm for brain tissue segmentation. However, a unique feature in the procedure is the use of a fractional volume model that has been developed to provide a quantitative measure for the partial volume effect. With this model, the fractional constituent tissue volumes are evaluated for voxels at the tissue boundary that manifest partial volume effect, thus allowing tissue boundaries be defined at a sub-voxel level and in an automated fashion. Validation studies are presented on key algorithms including segmentation and registration. An overall assessment of the method is provided through the evaluation of the rates of brain atrophy in a group of normal elderly subjects for which the rate of brain atrophy due to normal aging is predictably small. An application of the method is given in Part II where the rates of brain atrophy in various brain regions are studied in relation to normal aging and Alzheimer's disease.     

Tsallis-Entropy Segmentation through MRF and Alzheimer anatomic reference for Brain Magnetic Resonance Parcellation

Quantifying the intracranial tissue volume changes in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assists specialists to analyze the effects of natural or pathological changes. Since these changes can be subtle, the accuracy of the automatic compartmentalization method is always criticized by specialists. We propose and then evaluate an automatic segmentation method based on modified q-entropy (Mqe) through a modified Markov Random Field (MMRF) enhanced by Alzheimer anatomic reference (AAR) to provide a high accuracy brain tissues parcellation approach (Mqe-MMRF). We underwent two strategies to evaluate Mqe-MMRF; a simulation of different levels of noise and non-uniformity effect on MRI data (7 subjects) and a set of twenty MRI data available from MRBrainS13 as patient brain tissue segmentation challenge. We accessed eleven quality metrics compared to reference tissues delineations to evaluate Mqe-MMRF. MRI segmentation scores decreased by only 4.6% on quality metrics after noise and non-uniformity simulations of 40% and 9%, respectively. We found significant mean improvements in the metrics of the five training subjects, for whole-brain 0.86%, White Matter 3.20%, Gray Matter 3.99%, and Cerebrospinal Fluid 4.16% (p-values < 0.02) when Mqe-MMRF compared to the other reference methods. We also processed the Mqe-MMRF on 15 evaluation subjects group from MRBrainS13 online challenge, and the results held a higher rank than the reference tools; FreeSurfer, SPM, and FSL. Since the proposed method improved the precision of brain segmentation, specifically, for GM, and thus one can use it in quantitative and morphological brain studies.     

农作物冠层光谱信息的施肥管理分区研究

随着地面遥感技术的不断发展,越来越多的农作物冠层光谱检测传感器被应用到了农业生产,其中应用较为广泛的就是Greenseeker植物光谱检测仪,利用Greenseeker植物光谱检测仪可以获取农作物冠层光谱信息归一化植被指数(NDVI)数据,从而能够进行农作物的施肥管理分区的划分,依据划分好的施肥管理分区可以实现有针对性的变量施肥。模糊c-均值(FCM)算法是划分农作物施肥管理分区常用的算法,但是模糊c-均值算法具有一定的局限性,就是在计算过程中随着NDVI数据量的增加会不断进行数据的迭代计算,从而会影响施肥管理分区划分的速度。在模糊c-均值算法的基础上提出一种基于模型的模糊c-均值(MFCM)算法,基于模型的模糊c-均值算法在划分农作物施肥管理分区过程中不必在每获取一组数据时就对全部数据进行迭代计算,可有效提高划分施肥管理分区的速度。通过搭建的农作物冠层光谱信息采集平台获取大豆和玉米的NDVI数据,利用基于模型的模糊c-均值算法划分大豆和玉米的施肥管理分区,使用分区评价指标轮廓系数(SC)和调整兰德指数(ARI)评价划分施肥管理分区的效果。结果表明,随着获取的NDVI数据量的不断增加,...     

Optimization of tissue segmentation of brain MR images based on multispectral 3D feature maps

The purpose of this work was to optimize and increase the accuracy of tissue segmentation of the brain magnetic resonance (MR) images based on multispectral 3D feature maps. We used three sets of MR images as input to the in-house developed semi-automated 3D tissue segmentation algorithm: proton density (PD) and T2-weighted fast spin echo and, T1-weighted spin echo. First, to eliminate the random noise, non-linear anisotropic diffusion type filtering was applied to all the images. Second, to reduce the nonuniformity of the images, we devised and applied a correction algorithm based on uniform phantoms. Following these steps, the qualified observer "seeded" (identified training points) the tissue of interest. To reduce the operator dependent errors, cluster optimization was also used; this clustering algorithm identifies the densest clusters pertaining to the tissues. Finally, the images were segmented using k-NN (k-Nearest Neighborhood) algorithm and a stack of color-coded segmented images were created along with the connectivity algorithm to generate the entire surface of the brain. The application of pre-processing optimization steps substantially improved the 3D tissue segmentation methodology.     

A soft-segmentation visualization scheme for magnetic resonance images

Prevalent visualization tools exploit gray value distribution in images through modified histogram equalization and matching technique, referred to as the window width/window level-based method, to improve visibility and enhance diagnostic value. The window width/window level tool is extensively used in magnetic resonance (MR) images to highlight tissue boundaries during image interpretation. However, the identification of different regions and distinct boundaries between them based on gray-level distribution and displayed intensity levels is extremely difficult because of the large dynamic range of tissue intensities inherent in MR images. We propose a soft-segmentation visualization scheme to generate pixel partitions from the histogram of MR image data using a connectionist approach and then generate selective visual depictions of pixel partitions using pseudo color based on an appropriate fuzzy membership function. By applying the display scheme in clinical examples in this study, we could demonstrate additional overlapping regions between distinct tissue types in healthy and diseased areas (in the brain) that could help improve the tissue characterization ability of MR images.     

Combined volumetric T1, T2 and secular-T2 quantitative MRI of the brain: age-related global changes (preliminary results)

The combined T1, T2 and secular-T2 pixel frequency distributions of 24 adult human brains were studied in vivo using a technique based on the mixed-TSE pulse sequence, dual-space clustering segmentation and histogram gaussian decomposition. Pixel frequency histograms of whole brains and the four principal brain compartments were studied comparatively and as function of age. For white matter, the position of the T1 peak correlates with age (R2 =.7868) when data are fitted to a quadratic polynomial. For gray matter, a weaker age correlation is found (R2 =.3687). T2 and secular-T2 results are indicative of a weaker correlation with age. The technique and preliminary results presented herein may be useful for characterizing normal as well as abnormal aging of the brain, and also for comparison with the results obtained with alternative quantitative MRI methodologies.     

An effective noise removal technique for recovering the shapes of diamond abrasive grains in SLM images degraded by clustered spike noise

A new noise-removal technique is applied to scanning laser microscopic (SLM) images to remove clustered spike noise in the images and to recover the shapes of diamond abrasive grains degraded by the noise. For achievement of this purpose, noise points in the SLM image are accurately detected by taking advantage of their properties in the space and spatial-frequency regions. The noise points are removed by a method of smoothing that is based on linear interpolation; that is, their pixel values are replaced by the interpolated values of their non-noise neighboring points. Noise-point information in the space region is acquired from image segmentation based on pixel classification, while noise-point information in the frequency region is derived from redundant wavelet decomposition for the SLM image. Fisher's linear discriminant method is used to yield the two noise-point images. The degraded grain shapes in the SLM images at different noise levels are satisfactorily recovered with a single iteration of smoothing without losses in sharp edges although a single smoothing needed four interpolations. Thus, the present noise-removal technique is shown to be effective for recovering the original shapes of the grains in every SLM image.     

一种高噪声显微图像分割方法研究

传统的图像分割算法在处理高噪声显微图像时,由于背景复杂,很难得到目标完整的区域轮廓。通过对不同图像分割算法的性能进行对比,提出了一种改进的二维最大熵阈值遗传算法结合数学形态学除噪分割的方法。首先用改进的二维最大熵阈值算法结合遗传算法对高噪声显微图像进行粗分割,除去图像中大量的背景噪声,然后运用数学形态学进行细分割,滤除剩余少量杂质和孔洞,提取出目标轮廓。实验结果表明改进的方法较传统分割方法具有更强的抗噪声能力及更快的处理速度,有效地实现了高噪声显微图像的除噪分割。     

A combined approach of Kullback–Leibler divergence and background subtraction for moving object detection in thermal video

In this work, a robust method for moving object detection in thermal video frames has been proposed by including Kullback–Leibler divergence (KLD) based threshold and background subtraction (BGS) technique. A trimmed-mean based background model has been developed that is capable enough to reduce noise or dynamic component of the background. This work assumed that each pixel has normally distributed. The KLD has computed between background pixel and a current pixel with the help of Gaussian mixture model. The proposed threshold is useful enough to classify the state of each pixel. The post-processing step uses morphological tool for edge linking, and then the flood-fill algorithm has applied for hole-filling, and finally the silhouette of targeted object has generated. The proposed methods run faster and have validated over various real-time based problematic thermal video sequences. In the experimental results, the average value of F₁-score, area under the curve, the percentage of correct classification, Matthew’s correlation coefficient show higher values whereas total error and percentage of the wrong classification show minimum values. Moreover, the proposed-1 method achieved higher accuracy and execution speed with minimum false alarm rate that has been compared with proposed-2 as well as considered peer methods in the real-time thermal video.     

Stable Atlas-based Mapped Prior (STAMP) machine-learning segmentation for multicenter large-scale MRI data

Machine learning (ML)-based segmentation methods are a common technique in the medical image processing field. In spite of numerous research groups that have investigated ML-based segmentation frameworks, there remains unanswered aspects of performance variability for the choice of two key components: ML algorithm and intensity normalization. This investigation reveals that the choice of those elements plays a major part in determining segmentation accuracy and generalizability. The approach we have used in this study aims to evaluate relative benefits of the two elements within a subcortical MRI segmentation framework. Experiments were conducted to contrast eight machine-learning algorithm configurations and 11 normalization strategies for our brain MR segmentation framework. For the intensity normalization, a Stable Atlas-based Mapped Prior (STAMP) was utilized to take better account of contrast along boundaries of structures. Comparing eight machine learning algorithms on down-sampled segmentation MR data, it was obvious that a significant improvement was obtained using ensemble-based ML algorithms (i.e., random forest) or ANN algorithms. Further investigation between these two algorithms also revealed that the random forest results provided exceptionally good agreement with manual delineations by experts. Additional experiments showed that the effect of STAMP-based intensity normalization also improved the robustness of segmentation for multicenter data sets. The constructed framework obtained good multicenter reliability and was successfully applied on a large multicenter MR data set (n > 3000). Less than 10% of automated segmentations were recommended for minimal expert intervention. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using the ML-based segmentation tools for processing large amount of multicenter MR images. We demonstrated dramatically different result profiles in segmentation accuracy according to the choice of ML algorithm and intensity normalization chosen.     

基于空间信息的直觉模糊C-均值图像分割算法

针对模糊C-均值聚类算法的单一隶属度不能充分描述图像不确定性,且聚类过程中忽略像素空间关系的问题,提出一种基于空间信息的直觉模糊C-均值算法;该算法选取3×3的模板计算邻域像素灰度均值;并引入权重项,来控制灰度信息和空间信息各自所占的比重,同时用犹豫度更新直觉模糊集的隶属度函数;对常用标准图像的仿真结果表明,该算法能更好地保留图像细节信息,得到更加理想的图像分割效果。