Volume and Shape in Feature Space on Adaptive FCM in MRI Segmentation

Abstract

Intensity non-uniformity (bias field) correction, contextual constraints over spatial intensity distribution and non-spherical cluster's shape in the feature space are incorporated into the fuzzy cmeans (FCM) for segmentation of three-dimensional multi-spectral MR images. The bias field is modeled by a linear combination of smooth polynomial basis functions for fast computation in the clustering iterations. Regularization terms for the neighborhood continuity of either intensity or membership are added into the FCM cost functions. Since the feature space is not isotropic, distance measures, other than the Euclidean distance, are used to account for the shape and volumetric effects of clusters in the feature space. The performance of segmentation is improved by combining the adaptive FCM scheme with the criteria used in Gustafson-Kessel (G-K) and Gath-Geva (G-G) algorithms through the inclusion of the cluster scatter measure. The performance of this integrated approach is quantitatively evaluated on normal MR brain images using the similarity measures. The improvement in the quality of segmentation obtained with our method is also demonstrated by comparing our results with those produced by FSL (FMRIB Software Library), a software package that is commonly used for tissue classification.

Automated ventricular systems segmentation in brain CT images by combining low-level segmentation and high-level template matching

“…In [ 11 ], expectation maximization segmentation is combined with the use of active contour models. In [ 12 ], fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering method is combined with bias field modeling for MRI segmentation.…”

Fast algorithm for calculation of inhomogeneity gradient in magnetic resonance imaging data

“…Other segmentation based techniques include the fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm (10). The inhomogeneity gradient is incorporated into the objective function; the class membership and inhomogeneity estimation are then evaluated iteratively by minimizing the objective function (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). A recent study by Zhuge et al (16) described a method that uses intensity standardization to segment and correct inhomogeneity at the same time.…”