• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.3E
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• pp.118-135
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• 2009

The level set based approach is one of active methods for contour extraction in image segmentation. Since Osher and Sethian introduced the level set framework in 1988, the method has made the great impact on image segmentation. However, there are some problems to be solved; such as multi-objects segmentation, noise filtering and much calculation amount. In this paper we address the drawbacks of the previous level set methods and propose an extension of the traditional fast level set to cope with the limitations. We introduce a relationship matrix, a new split-and-merge criterion, a modified Chan-Vese criterion and a novel filtering criterion into the traditional fast level set approach. With the segmentation experiments we evaluate the proposed method and show the promising results of the proposed method.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1760-1778
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• 2018

For image segmentation with intensity inhomogeneity, many region-based level set methods have been proposed. Some of them however can't get the relatively ideal segmentation results under the severe intensity inhomogeneity and weak edges, and without use of the image gradient information. To improve that, we propose a new level set method combined with local direction gradient in this paper. Firstly, based on two assumptions on intensity inhomogeneity to images, the relationships between segmentation objects and image gradients to local minimum and maximum around a pixel are presented, from which a new pixel classification method based on weight of Euclidian distance is introduced. Secondly, to implement the model, variational level set method combined with image spatial neighborhood information is used, which enhances the anti-noise capacity of the proposed gradient information based model. Thirdly, a new diffusion process with an edge indicator function is incorporated into the level set function to classify the pixels in homogeneous regions of the same segmentation object, and also to make the proposed method more insensitive to initial contours and stable numerical implementation. To verify our proposed method, different testing images including synthetic images, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and real-world images are introduced. The image segmentation results demonstrate that our method can deal with the relatively severe intensity inhomogeneity and obtain the comparatively ideal segmentation results efficiently.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.7-21
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• 2019

In order to improve the edge segmentation effect of the level set image segmentation and avoid the influence of the initial contour on the level set method, a saliency level set image segmentation model based on local Renyi entropy is proposed. Firstly, the saliency map of the original image is extracted by using saliency detection algorithm. And the outline of the saliency map can be used to initialize the level set. Secondly, the local energy and edge energy of the image are obtained by using local Renyi entropy and Canny operator respectively. At the same time, new adaptive weight coefficient and boundary indication function are constructed. Finally, the local binary fitting energy model (LBF) as an external energy term is introduced. In this paper, the contrast experiments are implemented in different image database. The robustness of the proposed model for segmentation of images with intensity inhomogeneity and complicated edges is verified.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.827-833
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• 2015

In this paper, we have compared three level set-based active contour (LSAC) methods on inhomogeneous MR image segmentation which is known as an important role of brain diseases to diagnosis and treatment in early. MR image is often occurred a problem with similar intensities and weak boundaries which have been causing many segmentation methods. However, LSAC method could be able to segment the targets such as the level set based on the local image fitting energy, the local binary fitting energy, and local Gaussian distribution fitting energy. Our implemented and tested the subcortical image segmentations were the corpus callosum and hippocampus and finally demonstrated their effectiveness. Consequently, the level set based on local Gaussian distribution fitting energy has obtained the best model to accurate and robust for the subcortical image segmentation.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1417-1429
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• 2012

In neuroscientific research, image segmentation is one of the most important processes. The morphology of axons plays an important role for researchers seeking to understand axonal functions and connectivity. In this study, we evaluated the level set segmentation method for neuronal axons in a Brainbow confocal microscopy image. We first obtained a reconstructed image on an x-z plane. Then, for preprocessing, we also applied two methods: anisotropic diffusion filtering and bilateral filtering. Finally, we performed image segmentation using the level set method with three different approaches. The accuracy of segmentation for each case was evaluated in diverse ways. In our experiment, the combination of bilateral filtering with the level set method provided the best result. Consequently, we confirmed reasonable results with our approach; we believe that our method has great potential if successfully combined with other research findings.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1236-1247
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• 2016

Recently, the level set has become a popular method in many research fields. The main reason is that it can be modified into many variants. One such case is our proposed method. We describe a contrast-enhancement method to segment the hippocampal region from the background. However, the hippocampus region has quite similar intensities to the neighboring pixel intensities. In addition, to handle the inhomogeneous intensities of the hippocampus, we used a bias correction before hippocampal segmentation. Thus, we developed a contrast-enhanced bias-corrected distance-regularized level set (CBDLS) to segment the hippocampus in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It shows better performance than the distance-regularized level set evolution (DLS) and bias-corrected distance-regularized level set (BDLS) methods in 33 MRI images of one normal patient. Segmentation after contrast enhancement and bias correction can be done more accurately than segmentation while not using a bias-correction method and without contrast enhancement.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.63-73
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• 2017

Segmenting the image into multiple regions is at the core of image processing. Many segmentation formulations of an images with multiple regions have been suggested over the years. We consider segmentation algorithm based on the multi-phase level set method in this work. Proposed method gives the best result upon other methods found in the references. Moreover it can segment images with intensity inhomogeneity and have multiple junction. We extend our method (GLIF) in [T. Dultuya, and M. Kang, Segmentation with shape prior using global and local image fitting energy, J.KSIAM Vol.18, No.3, 225-244, 2014.] using a multiphase level set formulation to segment images with multiple regions and junction. We test our method on different images and compare the method to other existing methods.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.1142-1153
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• 2010

Conjunctival injection is the initial symptom of various eye diseases such as conjunctivitis, keratitis, or uveitis. The quantification of conjunctival injection may help the diagnosis and follow-up evaluation of various eye diseases. The size of the sclera is an important factor for the quantification of conjunctival injection. However, previous manual segmentation is time-consuming.Automatic segmentation is needed to extract the objective region of interest. This paper proposed a method based on the level set algorithm to segment the sclera from an anterior eye image. The initial model of the level set algorithm is calculated using the Lab color space, k-means algorithm and the geometric information. The level set algorithm was applied to the images in which the valley between the eyeball and skin was enhanced using the hessian analysis. This algorithm was tested with 52 images of the anterior eye segment. Results showed that the proposed method performs better than those with the level set algorithm using an arbitrary circle, or the region growing algorithm with color information. The proposed method for the segmentation of sclera may become an important component for the objective measurement of the conjunctival injection.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2009

Level set methods are the numerical techniques for tracking interfaces and shapes. They have been successfully used in image segmentation. A new variational level set evolving algorithm without re-initialization is presented in this paper. It consists of an internal energy term that penalizes deviations of the level set function from a signed distance function, and an external energy term that drives the motion of the zero level set toward the desired image feature. This algorithm can be easily implemented using a simple finite difference scheme. Meanwhile, not only can the initial contour can be shown anywhere in the image, but the interior contours can also be automatically detected.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.315-321
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• 2009

In this paper, a level set based energy functional is proposed, the minimization of which results in simultaneous reference background image modeling and foreground segmentation. Due to the mutual constraint of the two processes, a good estimate of the background can be obtained with a small number of frames, and due to the use of the level set, an Euler-Lagrange equation that directly solves the problem can be derived.