Scott T. Acton — Page 2

arXiv2018

The Coupled TuFF-BFF Algorithm for Automatic 3D Segmentation of Microglia

We propose an automatic 3D segmentation algorithm for multiphoton microscopy images of microglia. Our method is capable of segmenting tubular and blob-like structures from noisy images. Current segmentation techniques and software fail to capture the fine processes and soma of the microglia cells, useful for the study of the microglia role in the brain during healthy and diseased states. Our coupled tubularity flow field (TuFF)-blob flow field (BFF) method evolves a level set toward the object boundary using the directional tubularity and blobness measure of 3D images. Our method found a 20% performance increase against state of the art segmentation methods on a dataset of 3D images of microglia even in images with intensity heterogeneity throughout the object. The coupled TuFF-BFF segmentation results also yielded 40% improvement in accuracy for the ramification index of the processes, which displays the efficacy of our method.

eess.IV↗

arXiv2003

Universality in the merging dynamics of parametric active contours: a study in MRI-based lung segmentation

Measurement of lung ventilation is one of the most reliable techniques of diagnosing pulmonary diseases. The time consuming and bias prone traditional methods using hyperpolarized H${}^{3}$He and ${}^{1}$H magnetic resonance imageries have recently been improved by an automated technique based on multiple active contour evolution. Mapping results from an equivalent thermodynamic model, here we analyse the fundamental dynamics orchestrating the active contour (AC) method. We show that the numerical method is inherently connected to the universal scaling behavior of a classical nucleation-like dynamics. The favorable comparison of the exponent values with the theoretical model render further credentials to our claim.

cond-mat.soft↗