Fast Approximate Surface Evolution in Arbitrary Dimension
Author(s)
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Collections
Supplementary to:
Permanent Link
Abstract
The level set method is a popular technique used in medical image segmentation; however, the numerics involved
make its use cumbersome. This paper proposes an approximate level set scheme that removes much of the
computational burden while maintaining accuracy. Abandoning a floating point representation for the signed distance function, we use integral values to represent
the signed distance function. For the cases of 2D and 3D, we detail rules governing the evolution and maintenance
of these three regions. Arbitrary energies can be implemented in the framework. This scheme has several desirable properties: computations are only performed along the zero level set;
the approximate distance function requires only a few simple integer comparisons for maintenance; smoothness
regularization involves only a few integer calculations and may be handled apart from the energy itself; the zero
level set is represented exactly removing the need for interpolation off the interface; and evolutions proceed on
the order of milliseconds per iteration on conventional uniprocessor workstations. To highlight its accuracy, flexibility and speed, we demonstrate the technique on intensity-based segmentations
under various statistical metrics. Results for 3D imagery show the technique is fast even for image volumes.
Sponsor
Date
2008
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings