Jorge Brieva

Texture descriptor approaches to level set segmentation in medical images

Medical image analysis has become an important tool for improving medical diagnosis and planning treatments. It involves volume or still image segmentation that plays a critical role in understanding image content by facilitating extraction of the anatomical organ or region-of-interest. It also may help towards the construction of reliable computer-aided diagnosis systems. Specifically, level set methods have emerged as a general framework for image segmentation; such methods are mainly based on gradient information and provide satisfactory results. However, the noise inherent to images and the lack of contrast information between adjacent regions hamper the performance of the algorithms, thus, others proposals have been suggested in the literature. For instance, characterization of regions as statistical parametric models to handle level set evolution. In this paper, we study the influence of texture on a level-set-based segmentation and propose the use of Hermite features that are incorporated into the level set model to improve organ segmentation that may be useful for quantifying left ventricular blood flow. The proposal was also compared against other texture descriptors such as local binary patterns, Image derivatives, and Hounsfield low attenuation values.

Segmentation and optical flow estimation in cardiac CT sequences based on a spatiotemporal PDM with a correction scheme and the Hermite transform

PURPOSEnThe left ventricle and the myocardium are two of the most important parts of the heart used for cardiac evaluation. In this work a novel framework that combines two methods to isolate and display functional characteristics of the heart using sequences of cardiac computed tomography (CT) is proposed. A shape extraction method, which includes a new segmentation correction scheme, is performed jointly with a motion estimation approach.nnnMETHODSnFor the segmentation task we built a Spatiotemporal Point Distribution Model (STPDM) that encodes spatial and temporal variability of the heart structures. Intensity and gradient information guide the STPDM. We present a novel method to correct segmentation errors obtained with the STPDM. It consists of a deformable scheme that combines three types of image features: local histograms, gradients and binary patterns. A bio-inspired image representation model based on the Hermite transform is used for motion estimation. The segmentation allows isolating the structure of interest while the motion estimation can be used to characterize the movement of the complete heart muscle.nnnRESULTSnThe work is evaluated with several sequences of cardiac CT. The left ventricle was used for evaluation. Several metrics were used to validate the proposed framework. The efficiency of our method is also demonstrated by comparing with other techniques.nnnCONCLUSIONnThe implemented tool can enable physicians to better identify mechanical problems. The new correction scheme substantially improves the segmentation performance. Reported results demonstrate that this work is a promising technique for heart mechanical assessment.

A level set approach for left ventricle detection in CT images using shape segmentation and optical flow

The left ventricle (LV) segmentation plays an important role in a subsequent process for the functional analysis of the LV. Typical segmentation of the endocardium wall in the ventricle excludes papillary muscles which leads to an incorrect measure of the ejected volume in the LV. In this paper we present a new variational strategy using a 2D level set framework that includes a local term for enhancing the low contrast structures and a 2D shape model. The shape model in the level set method is propagated to all image sequences corresponding to the cardiac cycles through the optical flow approach using the Hermite transform. To evaluate our strategy we use the Dice index and the Hausdorff distance to compare the segmentation results with the manual segmentation carried out by the physician.

Mobile Robot with Movement Detection Controlled by a Real-Time Optical Flow Hermite Transform

This chapter presents a new algorithm inspired in the human visual system to compute optical flow in real-time based on the Hermite Transform. This algorithm is applied in a vision-based control system for a mobile robot. Its performance is compared for different texture scenarios with the classical Horn and Schunck algorithm. The design of the nature-inspired controller is based on the agent-environment model and agent’s architecture. Moreover, a case study of a robotic system with the proposed real-time Hermite optical flow method was implemented for braking and steering when mobile obstacles are close to the robot. Experimental results showed the controller to be fast enough for real-time applications, be robust to different background textures and colors, and its performance does not depend on inner parameters of the robotic system.

A Novel Artificial Organic Controller with Hermite Optical Flow Feedback for Mobile Robot Navigation

This chapter describes a novel nature-inspired and intelligent control system for mobile robot navigation using a fuzzy-molecular inference (FMI) system as the control strategy and a single vision-based sensor device, that is, image acquisition system, as feedback. In particular, FMI system is proposed as a hybrid fuzzy inference system with an artificial hydrocarbon network structure as defuzzifier that deals with uncertainty in motion feedback, improving robot navigation in dynamic environments. Additionally, the robotics system uses processed information from an image acquisition device using a realtime Hermite optical flow approach. This organic and nature-inspired control strategy was compared with a conventional controller and validated in an educational robot platform, providing excellent results when navigating in dynamic environments with a single-constrained perception device.

Phase-based motion magnification video for monitoring of vital signals using the Hermite transform

In this paper we present a new Eulerian phase-based motion magnification technique using the Hermite Transform (HT) decomposition that is inspired in the Human Vision System (HVS). We test our method in one sequence of the breathing of a newborn baby and on a video sequence that shows the heartbeat on the wrist. We detect and magnify the heart pulse applying our technique. Our motion magnification approach is compared to the Laplacian phase based approach by means of quantitative metrics (based on the RMS error and the Fourier transform) to measure the quality of both reconstruction and magnification. In addition a noise robustness analysis is performed for the two methods.

Video motion magnification for monitoring of vital signals using a perceptual model

In this paper we present an Eulerian motion magnification technique using a spatial decomposition based on the Steered Hermite Transform (SHT) which is inspired in the Human Vision System (HVS). We test our method in one sequence of the breathing of a newborn baby and on a video sequence that shows the heartbeat on the wrist. We estimate the heart pulse applying the Fourier transform on the magnified sequences. Our motion magnification approach is compared to the Laplacian and the Cartesian Hermite decomposition strategies by means of quantitative metrics.

3D optical flow estimation in cardiac CT images using the Hermite transform

Heart diseases are one of the most important causes of death in the Western world. It is, then, important to implement algorithms to aid the specialist in analyzing the heart motion. We propose a new strategy to estimate the cardiac motion through a 3D optical flow differential technique that uses the Steered Hermite transform (SHT). SHT is a tool that performs a decomposition of the images in a base that model the visual patterns used by the human vision system (HSV) for processing the information. The 3D + t analysis allows to describe most of motions of the heart, for example, the twisting motion that takes place on every beat cycle and to identify abnormalities of the heart walls. Our proposal was tested on two phantoms and on two sequences of cardiac CT images corresponding to two different patients. We evaluate our method using a reconstruction schema, for this, the resulting 3D optical flow was applied over the volume at time t to obtain a estimated volume at time t + 1. We compared our 3D optical flow approach to the classical Horn and Shunks 3D algorithm for different levels of noise.

Watermarked cardiac CT image segmentation using deformable models and the Hermite transform

Medical image watermarking is an open area for research and is a solution for the protection of copyright and intellectual property. One of the main challenges of this problem is that the marked images should not differ perceptually from the original images allowing a correct diagnosis and authentication. Furthermore, we also aim at obtaining watermarked images with very little numerical distortion so that computer vision tasks such as segmentation of important anatomical structures do not be impaired or affected. We propose a preliminary watermarking application in cardiac CT images based on a perceptive approach that includes a brightness model to generate a perceptive mask and identify the image regions where the watermark detection becomes a difficult task for the human eye. We propose a normalization scheme of the image in order to improve robustness against geometric attacks. We follow a spread spectrum technique to insert an alphanumeric code, such as patient’s information, within the watermark. The watermark scheme is based on the Hermite transform as a bio-inspired image representation model. In order to evaluate the numerical integrity of the image data after watermarking, we perform a segmentation task based on deformable models. The segmentation technique is based on a vector-value level sets method such that, given a curve in a specific image, and subject to some constraints, the curve can evolve in order to detect objects. In order to stimulate the curve evolution we introduce simultaneously some image features like the gray level and the steered Hermite coefficients as texture descriptors. Segmentation performance was assessed by means of the Dice index and the Hausdorff distance. We tested different mark sizes and different insertion schemes on images that were later segmented either automatic or manual by physicians.

Motion magnification using the Hermite transform

We present an Eulerian motion magnification technique with a spatial decomposition based on the Hermite Transform (HT). We compare our results to the approach presented in.1 We test our method in one sequence of the breathing of a newborn baby and on an MRI left ventricle sequence. Methods are compared using quantitative and qualitative metrics after the application of the motion magnification algorithm.