Segmentation of Scalp and Skull in brain MR Images Using CannyEdge Level Set Method

In this paper, we present a novel automatic algorithm for scalp and skull segmentation in T1-weighted head MR images. First, the scalp and skull part are constructed by using intensity threshold. Second, the scalp outer surface is extracted based on an active level set method. Third, the skull inner surface is extracted using a canny edge detection algorithm. Finally, the fast sweeping, tagging and level set methods are applied to reconstruct surfaces from the detected points in three-dimensional space. The results of the new segmentation algorithm on MRI data acquired from eight persons were compared with manual segmented data. The average similarity indices for the scalp and skull segmented regions were equal to 84.42% for the test data.