title: Cell-competition algorithm: a new segmentation algorithm for multiple objects with irregular boundaries in ultrasound images.
abstract: Segmentation of multiple objects with irregular contours and surrounding sporadic spots is a common practice in ultrasound image analysis. A new region-based approach, called cell-competition algorithm, is proposed for simultaneous segmentation of multiple objects in a sonogram. The algorithm is composed of two essential ideas. One is simultaneous cell-based deformation of regions and the other is cell competition. The cells are generated by two-pass watershed transformations. The cell-competition algorithm has been validated with 13 synthetic images of different contrast-to-noise ratios and 71 breast sonograms. Three assessments have been carried out and the results show that the boundaries derived by the cell-competition algorithm are reasonably comparable to those delineated manually. Moreover, the cell-competition algorithm is robust to the variation of regions-of-interest and a range of thresholds required for the second-pass watershed transformation. The proposed algorithm is also shown to be superior to the region-competition algorithm for both types of images.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. chung@ntu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Chung-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yi-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Curtis S K
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jie-Zhi
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yen-Fu
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.forename: Fang-Cheng
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Kuei-Wu
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary / Q000379:methods