Multi-resolution Image Segmentation using Geometric Active Contours

Abstract

Image segmentation is an important step in image processing, with many applications such as pattern recognition, object detection, and medical image analysis. It is a technique that separates objects of interests from the background in an image. Geometric active contour is a recent image segmentation method that overcomes previous problems with snakes. It is an attractive method for medical image segmentation as it is able to capture the object of interest in one continuous curve. The theory and implementation details of geometric active contours are discussed in this work. The robustness of the algorithm is tested through a series of tests, involving both synthetic images and medical images. Curve leaking past boundaries is a common problem in cases of non-ideal edges. Noise is also problematic for the advancement of the curve. Smoothing and parameters selection are discussed as ways to help solve these problems. This work also explores the incorporation of the multi-resolution method of Gaussian pyramids into the algorithm. Multi-resolution methods, used extensively in the areas of denoising and edge-selection, can help capture the spatial structure of an image. Results show that similar to the multi-resolution methods applied to parametric active contours, the multi-resolution can greatly increase the computation without sacrificing performance. In fact, results show that with successive smoothing and sub-sampling, performance often improves. Although smoothing and parameter adjustment help improve the performance of geometric active contours, the edge-based approach is still localized and the improvement is limited. Region-based approaches are recommended for further work on active contours.