A novel tracking algorithm via feature points matching.

Visual target tracking is a primary task in many computer vision applications and has been widely studied in recent years. Among all the tracking methods, the mean shift algorithm has attracted extraordinary interest and been well developed in the past decade due to its excellent performance. However, it is still challenging for the color histogram based algorithms to deal with the complex target tracking. Therefore, the algorithms based on other distinguishing features are highly required. In this paper, we propose a novel target tracking algorithm based on mean shift theory, in which a new type of image feature is introduced and utilized to find the corresponding region between the neighbor frames. The target histogram is created by clustering the features obtained in the extraction strategy. Then, the mean shift process is adopted to calculate the target location iteratively. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can deal with the challenging tracking situations such as: partial occlusion, illumination change, scale variations, object rotation and complex background clutter. Meanwhile, it outperforms several state-of-the-art methods.

Iterative nonlocal total variation regularization method for image restoration.

In this paper, a Bregman iteration based total variation image restoration algorithm is proposed. Based on the Bregman iteration, the algorithm splits the original total variation problem into sub-problems that are easy to solve. Moreover, non-local regularization is introduced into the proposed algorithm, and a method to choose the non-local filter parameter locally and adaptively is proposed. Experiment results show that the proposed algorithms outperform some other regularization methods.

Serial slice image segmentation of digital human based on adaptive geometric active contour tracking.

Segmentation is one of the crucial problems for the digital human research, as currently digital human datasets are manually segmented by experts with anatomy knowledge. Due to the thin slice thickness of digital human data, the static slices can be regarded as a sequence of temporal deformation of the same slice. This gives light to the method of object contour tracking for the segmentation task for the digital human data. In this paper, we present an adaptive geometric active contour tracking method, based on a feature image of object contour, to segment tissues in digital human data. The feature image is constructed according to the matching degree of object contour points, image variance and gradient, and statistical models of the object and background colors. Utilizing the characteristics of the feature image, the traditional edge-based geometric active contour model is improved to adaptively evolve curve in any direction instead of the single direction. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is robust to automatically handle the topological changes, and is effective for the segmentation of digital human data.

Fuzzy local Gaussian mixture model for brain MR image segmentation.

Accurate brain tissue segmentation from magnetic resonance (MR) images is an essential step in quantitative brain image analysis. However, due to the existence of noise and intensity inhomogeneity in brain MR images, many segmentation algorithms suffer from limited accuracy. In this paper, we assume that the local image data within each voxel's neighborhood satisfy the Gaussian mixture model (GMM), and thus propose the fuzzy local GMM (FLGMM) algorithm for automated brain MR image segmentation. This algorithm estimates the segmentation result that maximizes the posterior probability by minimizing an objective energy function, in which a truncated Gaussian kernel function is used to impose the spatial constraint and fuzzy memberships are employed to balance the contribution of each GMM. We compared our algorithm to state-of-the-art segmentation approaches in both synthetic and clinical data. Our results show that the proposed algorithm can largely overcome the difficulties raised by noise, low contrast, and bias field, and substantially improve the accuracy of brain MR image segmentation.

Generalized rough fuzzy c-means algorithm for brain MR image segmentation.

Fuzzy sets and rough sets have been widely used in many clustering algorithms for medical image segmentation, and have recently been combined together to better deal with the uncertainty implied in observed image data. Despite of their wide spread applications, traditional hybrid approaches are sensitive to the empirical weighting parameters and random initialization, and hence may produce less accurate results. In this paper, a novel hybrid clustering approach, namely the generalized rough fuzzy c-means (GRFCM) algorithm is proposed for brain MR image segmentation. In this algorithm, each cluster is characterized by three automatically determined rough-fuzzy regions, and accordingly the membership of each pixel is estimated with respect to the region it locates. The importance of each region is balanced by a weighting parameter, and the bias field in MR images is modeled by a linear combination of orthogonal polynomials. The weighting parameter estimation and bias field correction have been incorporated into the iterative clustering process. Our algorithm has been compared to the existing rough c-means and hybrid clustering algorithms in both synthetic and clinical brain MR images. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is more robust to the initialization, noise, and bias field, and can produce more accurate and reliable segmentations.

A modified possibilistic fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm for bias field estimation and segmentation of brain MR image.

A modified possibilistic fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm is presented for fuzzy segmentation of magnetic resonance (MR) images that have been corrupted by intensity inhomogeneities and noise. By introducing a novel adaptive method to compute the weights of local spatial in the objective function, the new adaptive fuzzy clustering algorithm is capable of utilizing local contextual information to impose local spatial continuity, thus allowing the suppression of noise and helping to resolve classification ambiguity. To estimate the intensity inhomogeneity, the global intensity is introduced into the coherent local intensity clustering algorithm and takes the local and global intensity information into account. The segmentation target therefore is driven by two forces to smooth the derived optimal bias field and improve the accuracy of the segmentation task. The proposed method has been successfully applied to 3 T, 7 T, synthetic and real MR images with desirable results. Comparisons with other approaches demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed algorithm. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is robust to initialization, thereby allowing fully automatic applications.

Level set segmentation of brain magnetic resonance images based on local Gaussian distribution fitting energy.

This paper presents a variational level set approach in a multi-phase formulation to segmentation of brain magnetic resonance (MR) images with intensity inhomogeneity. In our model, the local image intensities are characterized by Gaussian distributions with different means and variances. We define a local Gaussian distribution fitting energy with level set functions and local means and variances as variables. The means and variances of local intensities are considered as spatially varying functions. Therefore, our method is able to deal with intensity inhomogeneity without inhomogeneity correction. Our method has been applied to 3T and 7T MR images with promising results.

Active contours driven by local and global intensity fitting energy with application to brain MR image segmentation.

In this paper, we propose an improved region-based active contour model in a variational level set formulation. We define an energy functional with a local intensity fitting term, which induces a local force to attract the contour and stops it at object boundaries, and an auxiliary global intensity fitting term, which drives the motion of the contour far away from object boundaries. Therefore, the combination of these two forces allows for flexible initialization of the contours. This energy is then incorporated into a level set formulation with a level set regularization term that is necessary for accurate computation in the corresponding level set method. The proposed model is first presented as a two-phase level set formulation and then extended to a multi-phase formulation. Experimental results show the advantages of our method in terms of accuracy and robustness. In particular, our method has been applied to brain MR image segmentation with desirable results.

Brain MR image segmentation using local and global intensity fitting active contours/surfaces.

In this paper, we present an improved region-based active contour/surface model for 2D/3D brain MR image segmentation. Our model combines the advantages of both local and global intensity information, which enable the model to cope with intensity inhomogeneity. We define an energy functional with a local intensity fitting term and an auxiliary global intensity fitting term. In the associated curve evolution, the motion of the contour is driven by a local intensity fitting force and a global intensity fitting force, induced by the local and global terms in the proposed energy functional, respectively. The influence of these two forces on the curve evolution is complementary. When the contour is close to object boundaries, the local intensity fitting force became dominant, which attracts the contour toward object boundaries and finally stops the contour there. The global intensity fitting force is dominant when the contour is far away from object boundaries, and it allows more flexible initialization of contours by using global image information. The proposed model has been applied to both 2D and 3D brain MR image segmentation with promising results.

Shape statistics variational approach for the outer contour segmentation of left ventricle MR images.

Segmentation of left ventricles is one of the important research topics in cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The segmentation precision influences the authenticity of ventricular motion reconstruction. In left ventricle MR images, the weak and broken boundary increases the difficulty of segmenting the outer contour precisely. In this paper, we present an improved shape statistics variational approach for the outer contour segmentation of left ventricle MR images. We use the Mumford-Shah model in an object feature space and incorporate the shape statistics and an edge image to the variational framework. The introduction of shape statistics can improve the segmentation with broken boundaries. The edge image can enhance the weak boundary and thus improve the segmentation precision. The generation of the object feature image, which has homogenous "intensities" in the left ventricle, facilitates the application of the Mumford-Shah model. A comparison of mean absolute distance analysis between different contours generated with our algorithm and that generated by hand demonstrated that our method can achieve a higher segmentation precision and a better stability than various approaches. It is a semiautomatic way for the segmentation of the outer contour of the left ventricle in clinical applications.

Cardiac MR image segmentation and left ventricle surface reconstruction based on level set method.

A two-stage segmentation algorithm is presented to solve the problems of inhomogeneity, weak edges and artifacts exhibited in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. First, the K-mean clustering algorithm is applied to classify the objects. Then, a speed function based on the clustering results is defined in order to search the rough boundary. Secondly, a speed function of the gradient intensity is constructed to locate the boundary accurately. Due to the lack of deformation information of the boundaries between MR slices, a deformable model is used to reconstruct the shape of the LV: a dynamic equation governing the surface deformation is given; from the slice data, external forces are constructed and elastic forces are provided with mean curvatures of the deformation surface. The level set method is applied to solve the dynamic equation for the LV shape. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm listed in the paper.