Efficient segmentation by sparse pixel classification

Automatic segmentation of cartilage in high-field magnetic resonance images of the knee joint with an improved voxel-classification-driven region-growing algorithm using vicinity-correlated subsampling

Anatomical structures that can deteriorate over time, such as cartilage, can be successfully delineated with voxel-classification approaches in magnetic resonance (MR) images. However, segmentation via voxel-classification is a computationally demanding process for high-field MR images with high spatial resolutions. In this study, the whole femoral, tibial, and patellar cartilage compartments in the knee joint were automatically segmented in high-field MR images obtained from Osteoarthritis Initiative using a voxel-classification-driven region-growing algorithm with sample-expand method. Computational complexity of the classification was alleviated via subsampling of the background voxels in the training MR images and selecting a small subset of significant features by taking into consideration systems with limited memory and processing power. Although subsampling of the voxels may lead to a loss of generality of the training models and a decrease in segmentation accuracies, effective subsampling strategies can overcome these problems. Therefore, different subsampling techniques, which involve uniform, Gaussian, vicinity-correlated (VC) sparse, and VC dense subsampling, were used to generate four training models. The segmentation system was experimented using 10 training and 23 testing MR images, and the effects of different training models on segmentation accuracies were investigated. Experimental results showed that the highest mean Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) values for all compartments were obtained when the training models of VC sparse subsampling technique were used. Mean DSC values optimized with this technique were 82.6%, 83.1%, and 72.6% for femoral, tibial, and patellar cartilage compartments, respectively, when mean sensitivities were 79.9%, 84.0%, and 71.5%, and mean specificities were 99.8%, 99.9%, and 99.9%.

Automatic segmentation of high- and low-field knee MRIs using knee image quantification with data from the osteoarthritis initiative

Clinical studies including thousands of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans offer potential for pathogenesis research in osteoarthritis. However, comprehensive quantification of all bone, cartilage, and meniscus compartments is challenging. We propose a segmentation framework for fully automatic segmentation of knee MRI. The framework combines multiatlas rigid registration with voxel classification and was trained on manual segmentations with varying configurations of bones, cartilages, and menisci. The validation included high- and low-field knee MRI cohorts from the Center for Clinical and Basic Research, the osteoarthritis initiative (QAI), and the segmentation of knee images10 (SKI10) challenge. In total, 1907 knee MRIs were segmented during the evaluation. No segmentations were excluded. Our resulting OAI cartilage volume scores are available upon request. The precision and accuracy performances matched manual reader re-segmentation well. The cartilage volume scan-rescan precision was 4.9% (RMS CV). The Dice volume overlaps in the medial/lateral tibial/femoral cartilage compartments were 0.80 to 0.87. The correlations with volumes from independent methods were between 0.90 and 0.96 on the OAI scans. Thus, the framework demonstrated precision and accuracy comparable to manual segmentations. Finally, our method placed second for cartilage segmentation in the SKI10 challenge. The comprehensive validation suggested that automatic segmentation is appropriate for cohorts with thousands of scans.

Clavicle segmentation in chest radiographs

Automated delineation of anatomical structures in chest radiographs is difficult due to superimposition of multiple structures. In this work an automated technique to segment the clavicles in posterior-anterior chest radiographs is presented in which three methods are combined. Pixel classification is applied in two stages and separately for the interior, the border and the head of the clavicle. This is used as input for active shape model segmentation. Finally dynamic programming is employed with an optimized cost function that combines appearance information of the interior of the clavicle, the border, the head and shape information derived from the active shape model. The method is compared with a number of previously described methods and with independent human observers on a large database. This database contains both normal and abnormal images and will be made publicly available. The mean contour distance of the proposed method on 249 test images is 1.1±1.6mm and the intersection over union is 0.86±0.10.

A general system for automatic biomedical image segmentation using intensity neighborhoods

Image segmentation is important with applications to several problems in biology and medicine. While extensively researched, generally, current segmentation methods perform adequately in the applications for which they were designed, but often require extensive modifications or calibrations before being used in a different application. We describe an approach that, with few modifications, can be used in a variety of image segmentation problems. The approach is based on a supervised learning strategy that utilizes intensity neighborhoods to assign each pixel in a test image its correct class based on training data. We describe methods for modeling rotations and variations in scales as well as a subset selection for training the classifiers. We show that the performance of our approach in tissue segmentation tasks in magnetic resonance and histopathology microscopy images, as well as nuclei segmentation from fluorescence microscopy images, is similar to or better than several algorithms specifically designed for each of these applications.

LOGISMOS--layered optimal graph image segmentation of multiple objects and surfaces: cartilage segmentation in the knee joint

A novel method for simultaneous segmentation of multiple interacting surfaces belonging to multiple interacting objects, called LOGISMOS (layered optimal graph image segmentation of multiple objects and surfaces), is reported. The approach is based on the algorithmic incorporation of multiple spatial inter-relationships in a single n-dimensional graph, followed by graph optimization that yields a globally optimal solution. The LOGISMOS method's utility and performance are demonstrated on a bone and cartilage segmentation task in the human knee joint. Although trained on only a relatively small number of nine example images, this system achieved good performance. Judged by dice similarity coefficients (DSC) using a leave-one-out test, DSC values of 0.84 ± 0.04, 0.80 ± 0.04 and 0.80 ± 0.04 were obtained for the femoral, tibial, and patellar cartilage regions, respectively. These are excellent DSC values, considering the narrow-sheet character of the cartilage regions. Similarly, low signed mean cartilage thickness errors were obtained when compared to a manually-traced independent standard in 60 randomly selected 3-D MR image datasets from the Osteoarthritis Initiative database-0.11 ± 0.24, 0.05 ± 0.23, and 0.03 ± 0.17 mm for the femoral, tibial, and patellar cartilage thickness, respectively. The average signed surface positioning errors for the six detected surfaces ranged from 0.04 ± 0.12 mm to 0.16 ± 0.22 mm. The reported LOGISMOS framework provides robust and accurate segmentation of the knee joint bone and cartilage surfaces of the femur, tibia, and patella. As a general segmentation tool, the developed framework can be applied to a broad range of multiobject multisurface segmentation problems.