Boundary Segmentation of Microcalcification using Parametric Active Contours
A mammography image is composed of low contrast area where the breast tissues and the breast abnormalities such as microcalcification can hardly be differentiated by the medical practitioner. This paper presents the application of active contour models (Snakes) for the segmentation of microcalcification in mammography images. Comparison on the microcalcifiation areas segmented by the Balloon Snake, Gradient Vector Flow (GVF) Snake, and Distance Snake is done against the true value of the microcalcification area. The true area value is the average microcalcification area in the original mammography image traced by the expert radiologists. From fifty images tested, the result obtained shows that the accuracy of the Balloon Snake, GVF Snake, and Distance Snake in segmenting boundaries of microcalcification are 96.01%, 95.74%, and 95.70% accuracy respectively. This implies that the Balloon Snake is a better segmentation method to locate the exact boundary of a microcalcification region.
[1] Pride Foundation (2012). Available: http://pride.org.my
[2] Tabar, L.; Vitak, B.; Chen, H-HT.; Yen, M-F.; Duffy, S. W.; and Smith,
R. A. (2001). Beyond Randomized Trials: Organized Mammographic
Screening Substantially Reduces Breast Carcinoma Mortality. Cancer
91:1724 -1731.
[3] About.com.(2012).Available: http://breastcancer.about. com/od/mammo
grams/p/calcifications.htm
[4] Tabrizi, J.H. (2003), Using Active Contour for Segmentation of Middle
Ear Images. McGill University, Qubee.
[5] McInerney, T., and Terzopoulos, D. (1995). A Dynamic Finite Element
Surface Model for Segmentation and Tracking in Multidimensional
Medical Images with Applications to Cardiac 4D Image Analysis.
Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics 19(1):69-83.
[6] Xu,C.,&Prince,J.L. (1997), "Gradient Vector Flow: A New External
Force for Snakes", Proc. IEE Conf. on Computer Vision. 66-71, The
John Hopkins University, Baltimore
[7] Kass M, Witkin A & Terzopoulos D (1986), "Snakes: Active Contour
Models", International Journal of Computer Vision, 3, 321-331.
[8] Cohen, L., and Cohen, I. (1993). Finite-element Methods for Active
Contour Models and Balloons for 2D and 3D Images. IEEE
Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 15(11):
1131-1146.
[9] Sandberg.K.(2001). Visualizing Calculus: The Use of the Gradient in
Image Processing. University of Colorado, Boulder
[10] Cohen,L.D. (1991). On Active Contour Models and Balloons, Computer
Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing: Image Understanding. 211-
218
[11] S. Nirmala Devi and N. Kumaravel, (2008) "Comparison of active
contour models for image segmentation in X-ray coronary angiogram
images," Journal of medical engineering & technology, vol. 32, pp.
408-418, 2008.
[12] J. Hatamzadeh-Tabrizi and W. R. J. Funnell, (2002)."Comparison of
gradient, gradient vector flow and pressure force for image segmentation
using active contours," pp. 1-4..
[13] F. Liu, et al., "Liver segmentation for CT images using GVF snake,"
(2005). Medical Physics, vol. 32, p. 3699, 2005.
[14] A. K. Jumaat, et al., (2010) "Comparison of Balloon Snake and GVF
Snake in Segmenting Masses from Breast Ultrasound Images," 2010,
pp. 505-509.
[15] A. K. Jumaat, et al., (2010) "Segmentation of Masses from Breast
Ultrasound Images using Parametric Active Contour Algorithm,"
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 8, pp. 640-647, 2010.
[16] S. S. Yasiran, et al., "Comparison between GVF snake and ED snake in
segmenting microcalcifications," 2011, pp. 597-601.
[17] S. S. Yasiran, "Segmenting Microcalcifiations using Enhanced Distance
Active Contour (EDAC)," MSc, Mathematics, Universiti Teknologi
Mara (UiTM), Malaysia., Shah Alam, 2010.
[18] A. K. Jumaat, et al., (2011) "Segmentation and Characterization
Masses in Breast Ultrasound Images Using Active Contour". 2011 IEEE
International Conference on Signal and Image Processing Applications
(ICSIPA2011), 16-18 November 2011.
[1] Pride Foundation (2012). Available: http://pride.org.my
[2] Tabar, L.; Vitak, B.; Chen, H-HT.; Yen, M-F.; Duffy, S. W.; and Smith,
R. A. (2001). Beyond Randomized Trials: Organized Mammographic
Screening Substantially Reduces Breast Carcinoma Mortality. Cancer
91:1724 -1731.
[3] About.com.(2012).Available: http://breastcancer.about. com/od/mammo
grams/p/calcifications.htm
[4] Tabrizi, J.H. (2003), Using Active Contour for Segmentation of Middle
Ear Images. McGill University, Qubee.
[5] McInerney, T., and Terzopoulos, D. (1995). A Dynamic Finite Element
Surface Model for Segmentation and Tracking in Multidimensional
Medical Images with Applications to Cardiac 4D Image Analysis.
Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics 19(1):69-83.
[6] Xu,C.,&Prince,J.L. (1997), "Gradient Vector Flow: A New External
Force for Snakes", Proc. IEE Conf. on Computer Vision. 66-71, The
John Hopkins University, Baltimore
[7] Kass M, Witkin A & Terzopoulos D (1986), "Snakes: Active Contour
Models", International Journal of Computer Vision, 3, 321-331.
[8] Cohen, L., and Cohen, I. (1993). Finite-element Methods for Active
Contour Models and Balloons for 2D and 3D Images. IEEE
Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 15(11):
1131-1146.
[9] Sandberg.K.(2001). Visualizing Calculus: The Use of the Gradient in
Image Processing. University of Colorado, Boulder
[10] Cohen,L.D. (1991). On Active Contour Models and Balloons, Computer
Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing: Image Understanding. 211-
218
[11] S. Nirmala Devi and N. Kumaravel, (2008) "Comparison of active
contour models for image segmentation in X-ray coronary angiogram
images," Journal of medical engineering & technology, vol. 32, pp.
408-418, 2008.
[12] J. Hatamzadeh-Tabrizi and W. R. J. Funnell, (2002)."Comparison of
gradient, gradient vector flow and pressure force for image segmentation
using active contours," pp. 1-4..
[13] F. Liu, et al., "Liver segmentation for CT images using GVF snake,"
(2005). Medical Physics, vol. 32, p. 3699, 2005.
[14] A. K. Jumaat, et al., (2010) "Comparison of Balloon Snake and GVF
Snake in Segmenting Masses from Breast Ultrasound Images," 2010,
pp. 505-509.
[15] A. K. Jumaat, et al., (2010) "Segmentation of Masses from Breast
Ultrasound Images using Parametric Active Contour Algorithm,"
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 8, pp. 640-647, 2010.
[16] S. S. Yasiran, et al., "Comparison between GVF snake and ED snake in
segmenting microcalcifications," 2011, pp. 597-601.
[17] S. S. Yasiran, "Segmenting Microcalcifiations using Enhanced Distance
Active Contour (EDAC)," MSc, Mathematics, Universiti Teknologi
Mara (UiTM), Malaysia., Shah Alam, 2010.
[18] A. K. Jumaat, et al., (2011) "Segmentation and Characterization
Masses in Breast Ultrasound Images Using Active Contour". 2011 IEEE
International Conference on Signal and Image Processing Applications
(ICSIPA2011), 16-18 November 2011.
@article{"International Journal of Engineering, Mathematical and Physical Sciences:56498", author = "Abdul Kadir Jumaat and Siti Salmah Yasiran and Wan Eny Zarina Wan Abd Rahman and Aminah Abdul Malek", title = "Boundary Segmentation of Microcalcification using Parametric Active Contours", abstract = "A mammography image is composed of low contrast area where the breast tissues and the breast abnormalities such as microcalcification can hardly be differentiated by the medical practitioner. This paper presents the application of active contour models (Snakes) for the segmentation of microcalcification in mammography images. Comparison on the microcalcifiation areas segmented by the Balloon Snake, Gradient Vector Flow (GVF) Snake, and Distance Snake is done against the true value of the microcalcification area. The true area value is the average microcalcification area in the original mammography image traced by the expert radiologists. From fifty images tested, the result obtained shows that the accuracy of the Balloon Snake, GVF Snake, and Distance Snake in segmenting boundaries of microcalcification are 96.01%, 95.74%, and 95.70% accuracy respectively. This implies that the Balloon Snake is a better segmentation method to locate the exact boundary of a microcalcification region.
", keywords = "Balloon Snake, GVF Snake, Distance Snake,
Mammogram, Microcalcifications, Segmentation", volume = "6", number = "8", pages = "1003-5", }
