title: An efficient level set method for simultaneous intensity inhomogeneity correction and segmentation of MR images.
abstract: Intensity inhomogeneity (bias field) is a common artefact in magnetic resonance (MR) images, which hinders successful automatic segmentation. In this work, a novel algorithm for simultaneous segmentation and bias field correction is presented. The proposed energy functional allows for explicit regularization of the bias field term, making the model more flexible, which is crucial in presence of strong inhomogeneities. An efficient minimization procedure, attempting to find the global minimum, is applied to the energy functional. The algorithm is evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively using a synthetic example and real MR images of different organs. Comparisons with several state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed technique. Desirable results are obtained even for images with strong and complicated inhomogeneity fields and sparse tissue structures.
authors.affiliation: Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany. Electronic address: tiva@uni-greifswald.de.
authors.forename: Tatyana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ivanovska
authors.affiliation: Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laqua
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schenk
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hegenscheid
authors.affiliation: Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Völzke
authors.affiliation: Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Volkmar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Liebscher
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013382:Subtraction Technique
keywords: Bias field; Intensity inhomogeneity; Level set; MRI; Segmentation