The simultaneous segmentation of multiple objects is an important problem in many imaging and computer vision applications. Various extensions of level set segmentation techniques to multiple objects have been proposed; however, no one method maintains object relationships, preserves topology, is computationally efficient, and provides an object-dependent internal and external force capability. In this paper, a framework for segmenting multiple objects that permits different forces to be applied to different boundaries while maintaining object topology and relationships is presented. Because of this framework, the segmentation of multiple objects each with multiple compartments is supported, and no overlaps or vacuums are generated. The computational complexity of this approach is independent of the number of objects to segment, thereby permitting the simultaneous segmentation of a large number of components. The properties of this approach and comparisons to existing methods are shown using a variety of images, both synthetic and real.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is widely used to characterize white matter in health and disease. Previous approaches to the estimation of diffusion tensors have either been statistically suboptimal or have used Gaussian approximations of the underlying noise structure, which is Rician in reality. This can cause quantities derived from these tensors - e.g., fractional anisotropy and apparent diffusion coefficient - to diverge from their true values, potentially leading to artifactual changes that confound clinically significant ones. This paper presents a novel maximum likelihood approach to tensor estimation, denoted Diffusion Tensor Estimation by Maximizing Rician Likelihood (DTEMRL). In contrast to previous approaches, DTEMRL considers the joint distribution of all observed data in the context of an augmented tensor model to account for variable levels of Rician noise. To improve numeric stability and prevent non-physical solutions, DTEMRL incorporates a robust characterization of positive definite tensors and a new estimator of underlying noise variance. In simulated and clinical data, mean squared error metrics show consistent and significant improvements from low clinical SNR to high SNR. DTEMRL may be readily supplemented with spatial regularization or a priori tensor distributions for Bayesian tensor estimation.

This paper presents a new framework for multiple object segmentation in medical images that respects the topological properties and relationships of structures as given by a template. The technique, known as topology-preserving, anatomy-driven segmentation (TOADS), combines advantages of statistical tissue classification, topology-preserving fast marching methods, and image registration to enforce object-level relationships with little constraint over the geometry. When applied to the problem of brain segmentation, it directly provides a cortical surface with spherical topology while segmenting the main cerebral structures. Validation on simulated and real images characterises the performance of the algorithm with regard to noise, inhomogeneities, and anatomical variations.

This paper presents an approach to shape and motion estimation that integrates heterogeneous knowledge into a unique model-based framework. We describe the observed scenes in terms of structured geometric elements (points, line segments, rectangles, 3D corners) sharing explicitly Euclidean relationships (orthogonality, parallelism, colinearity, coplanarity). Camera trajectories are represented with adaptative models which account for the regularity of usual camera motions. Two different strategies of automatic model building lead us to reduced models for shape and motion estimation with a minimal number of parameters. These models increase the robustness to noise and occlusions, improve the reconstruction, and provide a high-level representation of the observed scene. The parameters are optimally computed within a sequential Bayesian estimation procedure that gives accurate and reliable results on synthetic and real video imagery.