Image segmentation is the process of subdividing an image into eloquent regions that are consistent and homogeneous in some characteristics. Image segmentation is indeed a vital process in the early diagnosis of abnormalities and treatment planning. The segmentation algorithms are employed to extract the anatomical structures and anomalies from medical images. The segmentation algorithms can be categorized into three generations. The first generation algorithms are based on threshold, seed point selection and edge tracing methods. The second generation algorithms incorporate uncertainty and optimization models and the third generation algorithms considers the prior information in segmentation process. This review work discusses and conceptualizes the various segmentation algorithms, which are in correlation with medical images and adduce the result of some of the significant algorithms in each generation. Moreover, the proposed work does spell out the pros and cons of the algorithms for computer aided analysis. In extension, this literature review indeed paves an ample platform to the researchers for better understanding of various segmentation techniques and its characteristics for medical images.

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