Interactive medical image segmentation using snake and multiscale curve editing

Abstract

Image segmentation is typically applied to locate objects and boundaries, and it is an essential process that supports medical diagnosis, surgical planning, and treatments in medical applications. Generally, this process is done by clinicians manually, which may be accurate but tedious and very time consuming. To facilitate the process, numerous interactive segmentation methods have been proposed that allow the user to intervene in the process of segmentation by incorporating prior knowledge, validating results and correcting errors. The accurate segmentation results can potentially be obtained by such user-interactive process. In this work, we propose a novel framework of interactive medical image segmentation for clinical applications, which combines digital curves and the active contour model to obtain promising results. It allows clinicians to quickly revise or improve contours by simple mouse actions. Meanwhile, the snake model becomes feasible and practical in clinical applications. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for medical images in clinical applications. © 2013 Wu Zhou and Yaoqin Xie.