Automatic multi-organ segmentation using learning-based segmentation and level set optimization

Abstract

We present a novel generic segmentation system for the fully automatic multi-organ segmentation from CT medical images. Thereby we combine the advantages of learning-based approaches on point cloud-based shape representation, such a speed, robustness, point correspondences, with those of PDE-optimization-based level set approaches, such as high accuracy and the straightforward prevention of segment overlaps. In a benchmark on 10-100 annotated datasets for the liver, the lungs, and the kidneys we show that the proposed system yields segmentation accuracies of 1.17-2.89mm average surface errors. Thereby the level set segmentation (which is initialized by the learning-based segmentations) contributes with an 20%-40% increase in accuracy. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.