Abstract
Medical image segmentation as an earlier application field in image segmentation is the key technology of medical image analysis and is also a key point and difficulty in clinical application. This paper proposes an accurate and robust active contour model based on the four-phase level set for medical MR images. First we define a new energy functional by combining the data term and the length term, where the data term is defined by transforming the energy functional of the multiplicative intrinsic component optimization (MICO) model into the level set framework after adding an edge detector function. Then, when we minimize the energy functional, we use the split Bregman method to improve the convergence speed. To test the performance of our model, we do lots of experiments according to the different brain MR images, which show that even under the severe influence of bias field or shadows, our model can still segment these images well, and our model is robust to the initial contours and noise. Moreover, our model is compared with the MICO model by experimental results and the numerical values, concluding that our model is better than the MICO model no matter in segmentation accuracy or in correction effect.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akram, F., Angel Garcia, M., Puig, D.: Active contours driven by local and global fitted image models for image segmentation robust to intensity inhomogeneity. PLoS One 12(4), Article ID: e0174813 (2017)
Akram, F., Kim, J.H., Ul Lim, H., Choi, K.N.: Segmentation of intensity inhomogeneous brain MR images using active contours. Comput. Math. Method Med. Article ID: 194614 (2014)
Chan, T.F., Vese, L.A.: Active contours without edges. IEEE Trans. Image Process. 10(2), 266–277 (2001)
Chu, Y.J., Mak, C.M.: A new QR decomposition-based RLS algorithm using the split Bregman method for L1-regularized problems. Signal Process. 128, 303–308 (2016)
Ding, K., Xiao, L., Weng, G.: Active contours driven by region-scalable fitting and optimized Laplacian of Gaussian energy for image segmentation. Signal Process. 134, 224–233 (2017)
Goldstein, T., Osher, S.: The split Bregman method for L1-regularized problems. SIAM J. Imaging Sci. 2(2), 323–343 (2009)
Hasan, A.M., Meziane, F., Aspin, R., Jalab, H.A.: Segmentation of brain tumors in MRI images using three-dimensional active contour without edge. Symmetry-Basel 8(11), 132 (2016)
Heydari, M., Karami, M.R., Babahani, A.: A new adaptive coupled diffusion PDE for MRI Rician noise. Signal Image Video Process. 10(7), 1211–1218 (2016)
Juntu J., Sijbers J., Van Dyck D., Gielen J.: Bias field correction for MRI images. In: Kurzyński M., Puchała E., Woźniak M., żołnierek A. (eds.) Computer Recognition Systems. Advances in Soft Computing, vol 30. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2005). https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/3-540-32390-2_64#citeas
Li, C., Gore, J.C., Davatzikos, C.: Multiplicative intrinsic component optimization (MICO) for MRI bias field estimation and tissue segmentation. Magn. Reson. Imaging 32(7), 913–923 (2014)
Li, C., Kao, C.Y., Gore Gore, J.C., Ding, Z.: Minimization of region-scalable fitting energy for image segmentation. IEEE Trans. Image Process. 17(10), 1940–1949 (2008)
Likar, B., Viergever, M., Pernus, F.: Retrospective correction of MR intensity inhomogeneity by information minimization. IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging 20(12), 1398–1410 (2001)
Norouzi, A., Rahim, M.S.M., Altameem, A., Saba, T., Rad, A.E., Rehman, A., Uddin, M.: Medical image segmentation methods, algorithms, and applications. IETE Tech. Rev. 31(3), 199–213 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/02564602.2014.906861
Osher, S., Burger, M., Goldfarb, D., Xu, J., Yin, W.: An iterative regularization method for total variation-based image restoration. Multiscale Model. Simul. 4(2), 460–489 (2005)
Qiao, N., Zou, B.: A segmentation method for noisy photoelectric image. Optik 124(20), 4092–4094 (2013)
Shi, Y., Zhang, X., Liu, Z.: Automatic segmentation of hippocampal subfields based on multi-atlas image segmentation techniques. Signal Image Video Process. 31(2), 121–128 (2014)
Tian, Y., Duan, F., Zhou, M., Wu, Z.: Active contour model combining region and edge information. Mach. Vis. Appl. 24(1), 47–61 (2013)
Tustison, N., Avants, B., Cook, P., Zheng, Y.: N4itk: improved n3 bias correction. IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging 29(6), 1310–1320 (2010)
Uros, V., Franjo, P., Bostjan, L.: A review of methods for correction of intensity inhomogeneity in mri. IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging 26(3), 405–421 (2007)
Vovk, U., Pernus, F., Likar, B.: A review of methods for correction of intensity inhomogeneity in MRI. IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging 26(3), 405–421 (2007)
Xu, J., Zhu, S., Soh, Y.C., Xie, L.: A bregman splitting scheme for distributed optimization over networks. IEEE Trans. Autom. Control 63(11), 3809–3824 (2018)
Yang, Y., Li, C., Kao, C.Y., Osher, S.: Split Bregman method for minimization of region-scalable fitting energy for image segmentation. In: International Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 6454, pp. 117–128. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (2010)
Yang, Y., Tian, D., Wu, B.: A fast and reliable noise-resistant medical image segmentation and bias field correction model. Magn. Reson. Imaging 54, 15–31 (2018)
Yang, Y., Wenjing, J.: Improved level set model based on bias information with application to color image segmentation and correction. Signal Image Video Process. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11760-019-01472-x
Yang, Y., Zhao, Y., Wu, B.: Split Bregman method for minimization of fast multiphase image segmentation model for inhomogeneous images. J. Optim. Theory Appl. 166(1), 285–305 (2015)
Yazdani, S., Yusof, R., Karimian, A., Pashna, M., Hematian, A.: Image segmentation methods and applications in mri brain images. IETE Tech. Rev. 32(6), 413–427 (2015)
Zhang, K., Zhang, L., Lam, K.M., Zhang, D.: A level set approach to image segmentation with intensity inhomogeneity. IEEE T. Cybern. 46(2), 546–557 (2016)
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by Shenzhen Fundamental Research Plan (No.JCYJ20160505175141489).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, Y., Yang, Y. & Zhong, S. Multi-phase level set method for precise segmentation and correction of brain MRI. SIViP 15, 53–61 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11760-020-01724-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11760-020-01724-1