Automated seeded lesion segmentation on digital mammograms

Segmenting lesions is a vital step in many computerized mass-detection schemes for digital (or digitized) mammograms. The authors have developed two novel lesion segmentation techniques-one based on a single feature called the radial gradient index (RGI) and one based on simple probabilistic models to segment mass lesions, or other similar nodular structures, from surrounding background. In both methods a series of image partitions is created using gray-level information as well as prior knowledge of the shape of typical mass lesions. With the former method the partition that maximizes the RGI is selected. In the latter method, probability distributions for gray-levels inside and outside the partitions are estimated, and subsequently used to determine the probability that the image occurred for each given partition. The partition that maximizes this probability is selected as the final lesion partition (contour). The authors tested these methods against a conventional region growing algorithm using a database of biopsy-proven, malignant lesions and found that the new lesion segmentation algorithms more closely match radiologists' outlines of these lesions. At an overlap threshold of 0.30, gray level region growing correctly delineates 62% of the lesions in the authors' database while the RGI and probabilistic segmentation algorithms correctly segment 92% and 96% of the lesions, respectively     

An efficient face segmentation algorithm based on binary partition tree

This paper presents an efficient face segmentation algorithm based on binary partition tree. Skin-like regions are first obtained by integrating the results of pixel classification and watershed segmentation. Facial features are extracted by the techniques of valley detection and entropic thresholding, and are used to refine the skin-like regions. In order to segment the facial regions from the skin-like regions, a novel region merging algorithm is proposed by considering the impact of the common border ratio between adjacent regions, and the binary partition tree is used to represent the whole region merging process. Then the facial likeness of each node in the binary partition tree is evaluated using a set of fuzzy membership functions devised for a number of facial primitives of geometrical, elliptical and facial features. Finally, an efficient algorithm of node selecting in the binary partition tree is proposed for the final face segmentation, which can exactly segment the faces without any underlying assumption. The performance of the proposed face segmentation algorithm is demonstrated by experimental results carried out on a variety of images in different scenarios.     

基于均值漂移滤波及谱分类的海面舰船红外目标分割

提出了一种有效的海面舰船红外目标分割方法.利用均值漂移方法的不连续保持性滤波特性,滤除海面的强杂波干扰,同时又不损失舰船目标的信息.根据滤波得到的区域构建区域邻接图,采用基于最大最小SST图划分算法对区域邻接图的节点进行划分.划分结果最终将图像分为天空背景、海面背景以及舰船目标3个部分.由于采用区域节点来表征图像,较之采用原始图像象素节点表示,其节点个数大大减少,从而使算法的计算效率得到很大提高.实验结果也表明提出两步算法具有优越的性能,能够在海面强杂波干扰的情况下有效提取舰船红外目标.     

Inclusion filters: a class of self-dual connected operators.

In this paper, we define a connected operator that either fills or retains the holes of the connected sets depending on application-specific criteria that are increasing in the set theoretic sense. We refer to this class of connected operators as inclusion filters, which are shown to be increasing, idempotent, and self dual (gray-level inversion invariance). We demonstrate self duality for 8-adjacency on a discrete Cartesian grid. Inclusion filters are defined first for binary-valued images, and then the definition is extended to grayscale imagery. It is also shown that inclusion filters are levelings, a larger class of connected operators. Several important applications of inclusion filters are demonstrated-automatic segmentation of the lung cavities from magnetic resonance imagery, user interactive shape delineation in content-based image retrieval, registration of intravital microscopic video sequences, and detection and tracking of cells from these sequences. The numerical performance measures on 100-cell tracking experiments show that the use of inclusion filter improves the total number of frames successfully tracked by five times and provides a threefold reduction in the overall position error.     

Segmentation of video sequences for partition tree generation

In this paper we propose a segmentation structure to generate a partition tree with multiple partition proposals. These multiple partitions are obtained for every image in a hierarchical way, from the coarsest one to the finest one. Time evolution of the regions is defined through a projection step which relates the previous coded partition with the current partition tree. Finer partitions than the projected one are defined segmenting the projected partition using texture criteria, while coarser partitions are obtained merging regions with motion criteria. Morphological tools are used both in the projection and the re-segmentation steps.     

Reconstruction of coarse depth estimates using hierarchical image partitions

This paper presents a novel depth map enhancement method which takes as inputs a single view and an associated coarse depth estimate. The depth estimate is reconstructed according to the region boundaries proposed within a set of image partitions of the associated view. Image partitions are determined through a color-based region merging procedure and organized within a hierarchy. Novel depth estimates are computed according to plane-fitting procedures using the proposed regions as support and selected coarse depth estimates. The use of partition hierarchies provides an efficient mechanism for evaluating plane-fitting results over various scales and, in this way, reduce the dependency of the results on the quality of a single color-based segmentation. Experimental results on publicly available test sequences illustrate the potential of the algorithm in significantly improving low quality depth estimates.     

对基于图像分割与合并的相位展开算法的改进

为了提高基于图像分割与合并的相位展开算法的精度,对已有的一种算法进行多方面改进,采取区域不等分措施,使得区域信息完整、准确再现;针对不同区域的噪声及欠采样情况,分别采取不同的相位展开算法;对分块合并时重叠区域进行加权叠加处理。利用仿真和实测数据对算法进行了验证,结果表明,改进算法能更准确、快速地恢复出被测物体的相位信息。改进后的算法不但适合于超大规模图像的相位展开,也适合于部分区域条纹过密的包裹相位图的展开。     

Connected operators

Connected operators are filtering tools that act by merging elementary regions called flat zones. Connecting operators cannot create new contours nor modify their position. Therefore, they have very good contour-preservation properties and are capable of both low-level filtering and higher-level object recognition. This article gives an overview on connected operators and their application to image and video filtering. There are two popular techniques used to create connected operators. The first one relies on a reconstruction process. The operator involves first a simplification step based on a "classical" filter and then a reconstruction process. In fact, the reconstruction can be seen as a way to create a connected version of an arbitrary operator. The simplification effect is defined and limited by the first step. The examples we have shown include simplification in terms of size or contrast. The second strategy to define connected operators relies on a hierarchical region-based representation of the input image, i.e., a tree, computed in an initial step. Then, the simplification is obtained by pruning the tree, and, third, the output image is constructed from the pruned tree. This article presents the most important trees that have been used to create connected operators and also discusses important families of simplification or pruning criteria.     

Unsupervised multistage image classification using hierarchical clustering with a Bayesian similarity measure.

A new multistage method using hierarchical clustering for unsupervised image classification is presented. In the first phase, the multistage method performs segmentation using a hierarchical clustering procedure which confines merging to spatially adjacent clusters and generates an image partition such that no union of any neighboring segments has homogeneous intensity values. In the second phase, the segments resulting from the first stage are classified into a small number of distinct states by a sequential merging operation. The region-merging procedure in the first phase makes use of spatial contextual information by characterizing the geophysical connectedness of a digital image structure with a Markov random field, while the second phase employs a context-free similarity measure in the clustering process. The segmentation procedure of region merging is implemented as a hierarchical clustering algorithm whereby a multiwindow approach using a pyramid-like structure is employed to increase computational efficiency while maintaining spatial connectivity in merging. From experiments with both simulated and remotely sensed data, the proposed method was determined to be quite effective for unsupervised analysis. In particular, the region-merging approach based on spatial contextual information was shown to provide more accurate classification of images with smooth spatial patterns.     

Antiextensive connected operators for image and sequence processing

This paper deals with a class of morphological operators called connected operators. These operators filter the signal by merging its flat zones. As a result, they do not create any new contours and are very attractive for filtering tasks where the contour information has to be preserved. This paper shows that connected operators work implicitly on a structured representation of the image made of flat zones. The max-tree is proposed as a suitable and efficient structure to deal with the processing steps involved in antiextensive connected operators. A formal definition of the various processing steps involved in the operator is proposed and, as a result, several lines of generalization are developed. First, the notion of connectivity and its definition are analyzed. Several modifications of the traditional approach are presented. They lead to connected operators that are able to deal with texture. They also allow the definition of connected operators with less leakage than the classical ones. Second, a set of simplification criteria are proposed and discussed. They lead to simplicity-, entropy-, and motion-oriented operators. The problem of using a nonincreasing criterion is analyzed. Its solution is formulated as an optimization problem that can be very efficiently solved by a Viterbi (1979) algorithm. Finally, several implementation issues are discussed showing that these operators can be very efficiently implemented.     

Flat zones filtering, connected operators, and filters byreconstruction

This correspondence deals with the notion of connected operators. Starting from the definition for operator acting on sets, it is shown how to extend it to operators acting on function. Typically, a connected operator acting on a function is a transformation that enlarges the partition of the space created by the flat zones of the functions. It is shown that from any connected operator acting on sets, one can construct a connected operator for functions (however, it is not the unique way of generating connected operators for functions). Moreover, the concept of pyramid is introduced in a formal way. It is shown that, if a pyramid is based on connected operators, the flat zones of the functions increase with the level of the pyramid. In other words, the flat zones are nested. Filters by reconstruction are defined and their main properties are presented. Finally, some examples of application of connected operators and use of flat zones are described.     

Superpixels extracted via region fusion with boundary constraint

In this paper, we present an accurate superpixel algorithm by region fusion with boundary constraint (RFBC). Superpixels with regular shape and high boundary adherence can be generated in weak boundary and complex texture regions through our algorithm. RFBC includes two steps which are initial segmentation and region fusion respectively. In initial segmentation, broken Canny edges are connected through edge closing algorithm. Subsequently, the closed Canny edges and SLIC superpixel edges are combined together to form the incipient superpixels. In region fusion, gray Gaussian distribution and adjacent relation are used as priori to compute the degree of similarity across incipient superpixels in GBP algorithm. For concreteness, the information of similarity is propagated between regions and the most similar regions are fused, which are accomplished alternatingly to preserve accurate boundaries. Extensive experiments on the Berkeley segmentation benchmark show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the most state-of-the-art algorithms.     

Texture classification using logical operators

In this paper, a new algorithm for texture classification based on logical operators is presented. Operators constructed from logical building blocks are convolved with texture images. An optimal set of six operators are selected based on their texture discrimination ability. The responses are then converted to standard deviation matrices computed over a sliding window. Zonal sampling features are computed from these matrices. A feature selection process is applied and the new set of features are used for texture classification. Classification of several natural and synthetic texture images are presented demonstrating the excellent performance of the logical operator method. The computational superiority and classification accuracy of the algorithm is demonstrated by comparison with other popular methods. Experiments with different classifiers and feature normalization are also presented. The Euclidean distance classifier is found to perform best with this algorithm. The algorithm involves only convolutions and simple arithmetic in the various stages which allows faster implementations. The algorithm is applicable to different types of classification problems which is demonstrated by segmentation of remote sensing images, compressed and reconstructed images and industrial images.     

基于合并准则和测地膨胀重构的视频目标分割

提出具有鲁棒性的时空域视频目标分割方案：先用改进分水岭算法和合并准则作空域分割,产生初始I-帧分割,接着选择测地膨胀的掩模和标记图像来重构目标,以目标的每一轮廓像素构造边缘块,投影至下一帧中提取闭合目标轮廓。经多个视频序列实验证明,算法是行之有效的,而且适用于陕速运动和部分遮挡的目标分割。     

多尺度形态梯度算法及其在图像分割中的应用

分水岭变换是一种适用于图像分割的强有力的形态工具.然而,基于分水岭变换的图像分割方法的性能在很大程度上依赖于用来计算待分割图像梯度的算法.本文首先提出了一种计算图像形态梯度的多尺度算法,对阶跃边缘和"模糊"边缘进行了有效的处理其次,提出了一种去除因噪声或量化误差造成的局部"谷底"的算法.实验结果表明,采用本文算法后进行分水岭变换,即使不进行区域合并也能产生有意义的分割,极大地减轻了计算负担.     

SAR图像组合分割算法

由于存在乘性斑点噪声的影响,给SAR图像分割造成很大困难,本文研究利用最大似然区域增长分割算法,提出区域增长前引入自适应边缘检测,图像分割性能获得较大提高.介绍了我们研究的分割性能优异的模拟退火分割算法,提出了分割性能接近模拟退火并且在SAR图像分割中比较实用的模拟退火和最大似然混合分割算法,并给出了这些分割算法的分割性能比较,以及在实际分割SAR图像时应当如何选择分割算法.     

一种新的基于网格编码和区域合并的SAR图像快速分割算法

该文建立一种新的基于八邻域网格编码的SAR图像分割模型,并用区域合并技术实现了模型的快速求解。利用多方向比例边缘检测算子提取SAR图像的比例边缘强度映射(RESM),提出一种新的阈值处理方法抑制RESM均质区域内部的极小值,进而减少了对阈值处理后的RESM进行分水岭变换获得的初始分割的区域个数。递归地合并相邻区域来求取分割模型的次优解。利用区域邻接图(RAG)及其最近邻图(NNG)特性来加速区域合并过程。引入精确度(P)和召回率(R)来评价分割算法的边缘定位精度。与常用方法相比,该文方法具有高的边缘定位精度和低的时间复杂度。     

Efficient morphological segmentation using a new connected operator

An efficient segmentation algorithm for region-based coding is proposed. A new connected operator based on both size and contrast is presented and an efficient region merging algorithm which preserves high quality in terms of the number of regions is proposed. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves a good performance in terms of the image quality and the number of regions