Content-based image retrieval using visually significant point features

This paper presents a new image retrieval scheme using visually significant point features. The clusters of points around significant curvature regions (high, medium, and weak type) are extracted using a fuzzy set theoretic approach. Some invariant color features are computed from these points to evaluate the similarity between images. A set of relevant and non-redundant features is selected using the mutual information based minimum redundancy-maximum relevance framework. The relative importance of each feature is evaluated using a fuzzy entropy based measure, which is computed from the sets of retrieved images marked relevant and irrelevant by the users. The performance of the system is evaluated using different sets of examples from a general purpose image database. The robustness of the system is also shown when the images undergo different transformations.     

Fuzzy measures for color image retrieval

In this paper we present a scheme for fuzzy similarity based strategy to retrieve an image from a library of color images. Color features are among the most important features used in image database retrieval. Due to its compact representation and low complexity, direct histogram comparison is the most commonly used technique in measuring color similarity of images. A gamma membership function, derived from the Gamma distribution, has been proposed to find the membership values of the gray levels of the histogram. We present here an image retrieval scheme with some popular vector fuzzy distance measures using a gamma membership function for finding the membership values of the gray levels and evaluate the matching function to select the appropriate retrieval mechanism.     

Examples of fuzzy metrics and applications

In this paper we present new examples of fuzzy metrics in the sense of George and Veeramani. The examples have been classified attending to their construction and most of the well-known fuzzy metrics are particular cases of those given here. In particular, novel fuzzy metrics, by means of fuzzy and classical metrics and certain special types of functions, are introduced. We also give an extension theorem for two fuzzy metrics that agree in its nonempty intersection. Finally, we give an application of this type of fuzzy metrics to color image processing. We propose a fuzzy metric that simultaneously takes into account two different distance criteria between color image pixels and we use this fuzzy metric to filter noisy images, obtaining promising results. This application is also illustrative of how fuzzy metrics can be used in other engineering problems.     

Extracting compact and information lossless sets of fuzzy association rules

Applying classical association rule extraction framework on fuzzy datasets leads to an unmanageably highly sized association rule sets. Moreover, the discretization operation leads to information loss and constitutes a hamper towards an efficient exploitation of the mined knowledge. To overcome such a drawback, this paper proposes the extraction and the exploitation of compact and informative generic basis of fuzzy association rules. The presented approach relies on the extension, within the fuzzy context, of the notion of closure and Galois connection, that we introduce in this paper. In order to select without loss of information a generic subset of all fuzzy association rules, we define three fuzzy generic basis from which remaining (redundant) FARs are generated. This generic basis constitutes a compact nucleus of fuzzy association rules, from which it is possible to informatively derive all the remaining rules. In order to ensure a sound and complete derivation process, we introduce an axiomatic system allowing the complete derivation of all the redundant rules. The results obtained from experiments carried out on benchmark datasets are very encouraging. They highlight a very important reduction of the number of the extracted fuzzy association rules without information loss.     

Multiobjective improved spatial fuzzy c-means clustering for image segmentation combining Pareto-optimal clusters

In this paper, we propose a grayscale image segmentation method based on a multiobjective optimization approach that optimizes two complementary criteria (region and edge based). The region-based fitness used is the improved spatial fuzzy c-means clustering measure that is shown performing better than the standard fuzzy c-means (FCM) measure. The edge-based fitness used is based on the contour statistics and the number of connected components in the image segmentation result. The optimization algorithm used is the multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), which is well suited to handle continuous variables problems, the case of FCM clustering. In our case, each particle of the swarm codes the centers of clusters. The result of the multiobjective optimization technique is a set of Pareto-optimal solutions, where each solution represents a segmentation result. Instead of selecting one solution from the Pareto front, we propose a method that combines all solutions to get a better segmentation. The combination method takes place in two steps. The first step is the detection of high-confidence points by exploiting the similarity between the results and the membership degrees. The second step is the classification of the remaining points by using the high-confidence extracted points. The proposed method was evaluated on three types of images: synthetic images, simulated MRI brain images and real-world MRI brain images. This method was compared to the most widely used FCM-based algorithms of the literature. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.     

Multi-criteria supplier segmentation using a fuzzy preference relations based AHP

One of the strategic activities of a firm is supplier segmentation, whereby a firm creates groups of suppliers to handle them differently. Existing literature provides several typologies of suppliers, each of which uses different dimensions/variables. In this paper, different typologies are combined by distinguishing two overarching dimensions, the capabilities and the willingness of suppliers to cooperate with a particular firm. These dimensions cover almost all the existing supplier segmentation criteria mentioned in existing literature. For each particular situation, these dimensions can be specified using a multi-criteria decision-making method. A methodology is proposed that includes a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) which uses fuzzy preference relations to incorporate the ambiguities and uncertainties that usually exist in human judgment. The proposed methodology is used to segment the suppliers of a broiler company. The result is a segmentation of suppliers based on two aggregated dimensions. Finally some strategies to handle different segments are discussed and concluding remarks and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Segmentation of color lip images by optimal thresholding using bacterial foraging optimization (BFO)

Image segmentation is required as a very important and fundamental operation for significant analysis and interpretation of images. One of the most important applications of segmentation is for facial surgical planning. Thresholding method is so common in image segmentation, because it is simple, noise robustness and accurate. In this paper, we recognize and segment the area of lips using optimal thresholding based on bacterial foraging optimization. New color space (IHLS) is introduced in this paper, that it has good performance in facial image segmentation. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, we use three methods to measure accuracy. The proposed algorithm has less computational complexity and error and it is also efficient.     

基于直方图初始化的有效的多区域Mumford-Shah图像分割方法（英文）

The Mumford-Shah energy functional is a successful image segmentation model. It is a non-convex variational problem and lacks of good initialization techniques so far. In this paper, motivated by the fact that image histogram is a combination of several Gaussian distributions, and their centers can be considered as approximations of cluster centers, we introduce a histogram-based initialization method to compute the cluster centers. With this technique, we then devise an effective multi-region Mumford-Shah image segmentation method, and adopt the recent proximal alternating minimization method to solve the minimization problem. Experiments indicate that our histogram initialization method is more robust than existing methods,and our segmentation method is very effective for both gray and color images.     

Nonlocal spatial clustering in automated brain hematoma and edema segmentation

Hematoma and edema volume are potential predictors of 30‐day mortality rate and functional outcome (degree of disability or dependence in daily activities after a stroke) for patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. The manual segmentation of hematoma and edema from computed tomography scans is common practice but a time‐consuming and labor‐intensive task. Automated segmentation is an appealing alternative, but it is challenging because of the poorly defined boundary between edema and the surrounding healthy brain tissue. There is limited literature on this problem, and we aim to help fill the gap between the theoretical development of segmentation methods and the practical need. Our framework is fully automated and requires no supervision. The method uses nonlocal regularized spatial fuzzy C‐means clustering in the initialization stage and the active contour without edges method in the refinement stage. To evaluate it, we used 30 subjects with different sizes, shapes, and locations of hematoma and edema. Compared with the manual segmentation results from two independent raters, our method performs hematoma segmentation well, with an average dice score coefficient of 0.92. Although there is a lack of ground truth in edema segmentation due to the high inter and intrarater variation, our results are comparable with manual segmentation results.     

Real-time moving object segmentation in H.264 compressed domain based on approximate reasoning

This paper presents a real-time segmentation algorithm to obtain moving objects from the H.264 compressed domain. The proposed segmentation works with very little information and is based on two features of the H.264 compressed video: motion vectors associated to the macroblocks and decision modes. The algorithm uses fuzzy logic and allows to describe position, velocity and size of the detected regions in a comprehensive way, so the proposed approach works with low level information but manages highly comprehensive linguistic concepts. The performance of the algorithm is improved using dynamic design of fuzzy sets that avoids merge and split problems. Experimental results for several traffic scenes demonstrate the real-time performance and the encouraging results in diverse situations.     

A fractional order derivative based active contour model for inhomogeneous image segmentation

Segmenting intensity inhomogeneous images is a challenging task for both local and global methods. Some hybrid methods have great advantages over the traditional methods in inhomogeneous image segmentation. In this paper, a new hybrid method is presented, which incorporates image gradient, local environment and global information into a framework, called adaptive-weighting active contour model. The energy or level set functions in the framework mainly include two parts: a global term and local term. The global term aims to enhance the image contrast, and it can also accelerate the convergence rate when minimizing the energy function. The local term integrates fractional order differentiation, fractional order gradient magnitude, and difference image information into the well-known local Chan–Vese model, which has been shown to be effective and efficient in modeling the local information. The local term can also enhance low frequency information and improve the inhomogeneous image segmentation. An adaptive weighting strategy is proposed to balance the actions of the global and local terms automatically. When minimizing the level set functions, regularization can be imposed by applying Gaussian filtering to ensure smoothness in the evolution process. In addition, a corresponding stopping criterion is proposed to ensure the evolving curve automatically stops on true boundaries of objects. Dice similarity coefficient is employed as the comparative quantitative measures for the segmented results. Experiments on synthetic images as well as real images are performed to demonstrate the segmentation accuracy and computational efficiency of the presented hybrid method.     

Real-time moving object segmentation in H.264 compressed domain based on approximate reasoning

This paper presents a real-time segmentation algorithm to obtain moving objects from the H.264 compressed domain. The proposed segmentation works with very little information and is based on two features of the H.264 compressed video: motion vectors associated to the macroblocks and decision modes. The algorithm uses fuzzy logic and allows to describe position, velocity and size of the detected regions in a comprehensive way, so the proposed approach works with low level information but manages highly comprehensive linguistic concepts. The performance of the algorithm is improved using dynamic design of fuzzy sets that avoids merge and split problems. Experimental results for several traffic scenes demonstrate the real-time performance and the encouraging results in diverse situations.     

Rough fuzzy set based scale space transforms and their use in image analysis

In this paper we present a multi-scale method based on the hybrid notion of rough fuzzy sets, coming from the combination of two models of uncertainty like vagueness by handling rough sets and coarseness by handling fuzzy sets. Marrying both notions lead to consider, as instance, approximation of sets by means of similarity relations or fuzzy partitions. The most important features are extracted from the scale spaces by unsupervised cluster analysis, to successfully tackle image processing tasks. Here, we report some results achieved by applying the method to multi-class image segmentation and edge detection, but it can be shown to be successfully applied to texture discrimination problem too.     

一种基于梯形模糊数的模糊多属性格序决策方法

从格序结构理论出发,根据梯形模糊数构成的集合按照一定的比较规则构成一偏序,进而满足一定条件构成格.给出了在应用具有梯形模糊数的多属性格序决策过程中格中缺失元素的补充机理.研究了用格序决策理论对梯形模糊数进行排序的方法,并将其用于投资者对投资方案的选择.     

Fuzzy criteria for feature selection

The presence of less relevant or highly correlated features often decrease classification accuracy. Feature selection in which most informative variables are selected for model generation is an important step in data-driven modeling. In feature selection, one often tries to satisfy multiple criteria such as feature discriminating power, model performance or subset cardinality. Therefore, a multi-objective formulation of the feature selection problem is more appropriate. In this paper, we propose to use fuzzy criteria in feature selection by using a fuzzy decision making framework. This formulation allows for a more flexible definition of the goals in feature selection, and avoids the problem of weighting different goals is classical multi-objective optimization. The optimization problem is solved using an ant colony optimization algorithm proposed in our previous work. We illustrate the added value of the approach by applying our proposed fuzzy feature selection algorithm to eight benchmark problems.     

基于混合单纯形算法的模糊均值图像分割

针对模糊C均值算法用于图像分割时对初始值敏感、容易陷入局部极值的问题,提出基于混合单纯形算法的模糊均值图像分割算法.算法利用Nelder-Mead单纯形算法计算量小、搜索速度快和粒子群算法自适应能力强、具有较好的全局搜索能力的特点,将混合单纯形算法的结果作为模糊C均值算法的输入,并将其用于图像分割.实验结果表明:基于混合单纯形算法的模糊均值图像分割算法在改善图像分割质量的同时,提高了算法的运行速度.     

Two-Stage Image Segmentation Scheme Based on Inexact Alternating Direction Method

Image segmentation is a fundamental problem in both image processing and computer vision with numerous applications. In this paper, we propose a two-stage image segmentation scheme based on inexact alternating direction method. Specifically, we first solve the convex variant of the Mumford-Shah model to get the smooth solution, and the segmentation is then obtained by applying the K-means clustering method to the solution. Some numerical comparisons are arranged to show the effectiveness of our proposed schemes by segmenting many kinds of images such as artificial images, natural images, and brain MRI images.