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A Parallel Markov Cerebrovascular Segmentation Algorithm Based on Statistical Model

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Abstract

For segmenting cerebral blood vessels from the time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA) images accurately, we propose a parallel segmentation algorithm based on statistical model with Markov random field (MRF). Firstly, we improve traditional non-local means filter with patch-based Fourier transformation to preprocess the TOF-MRA images. In this step, we mainly utilize the sparseness and self-similarity of the MRA brain images sequence. Secondly, we add the MRF information to the finite mixture mode (FMM) to fit the intensity distribution of medical images. We make use of the MRF in image sequence to estimate the proportion of cerebral tissues. Finally, we choose the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to parallelize the parameter estimation of FMM. A large number of experiments verify the high accuracy and robustness of our approach especially for narrow vessels. The work will offer significant assistance for physicians on the prevention and diagnosis of cerebrovascular diseases.

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Correspondence to Xing-Ce Wang.

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The research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 61271366, and the National High Technology Research and Development 863 Program of China under Grant No. 2015AA020506.

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Cao, RF., Wang, XC., Wu, ZK. et al. A Parallel Markov Cerebrovascular Segmentation Algorithm Based on Statistical Model. J. Comput. Sci. Technol. 31, 400–416 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11390-016-1634-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11390-016-1634-6

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