Feature Extraction Methods for Character Recognition

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A machine learning approach to automatic detection of irregularity in skin lesion border using dermoscopic images

Skin lesion border irregularity is considered an important clinical feature for the early diagnosis of melanoma, representing the B feature in the ABCD rule. In this article we propose an automated approach for skin lesion border irregularity detection. The approach involves extracting the skin lesion from the image, detecting the skin lesion border, measuring the border irregularity, training a Convolutional Neural Network and Gaussian naive Bayes ensemble, to the automatic detection of border irregularity, which results in an objective decision on whether the skin lesion border is considered regular or irregular. The approach achieves outstanding results, obtaining an accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and F-score of 93.6%, 100%, 92.5% and 96.1%, respectively

Analysing and processing medical images with increased performance using fractal geometry

The research relied on the application of a series of steps to analyze medical images, and to basically achieve this goal, a set of techniques were made from both fractal engineering and tissue analysis by improving the studied image and then analyzing the studied image texture in the fractal dimension and propose a hybrid method for segmenting images of complex situations and structures based on the geometric patterns that are repeated and represented by the fractal filter (Hurst), which is one of the modern techniques used in the field of digital image processing. Using fractal methods, that is, a specific application through real fractal structures of medical images and measuring their fractal dimensions and in capturing the exact features based on the scale in dimensional fractions, where the accuracy rate reached )98%( in diagnosing pathological conditions with an error rate close to zero. Also, the coefficients of multiple fractals were calculated (α) ,with a threshold factor of (4.5), the texture is also classified based on the fractal algorithm and Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrices (GLCM) and according to the experimental results performed on the medical images, the classification method provides a classification rate of 95%. To increase the accuracy, the lacunarity was calculated in the healthy medical images by applying fractal theorem filters where the gap ratio was close to (1) in the lacunarity size. The results also showed that the decrease in the contrast of the image with the continuation of the smoothing process or the decrease in the intensity levels of the image causes a significant decrease in the contrast of the image, especially in the areas of the edges

Imaging time series for the classification of EMI discharge sources

In this work, we aim to classify a wider range of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) discharge sources collected from new power plant sites across multiple assets. This engenders a more complex and challenging classification task. The study involves an investigation and development of new and improved feature extraction and data dimension reduction algorithms based on image processing techniques. The approach is to exploit the Gramian Angular Field technique to map the measured EMI time signals to an image, from which the significant information is extracted while removing redundancy. The image of each discharge type contains a unique fingerprint. Two feature reduction methods called the Local Binary Pattern (LBP) and the Local Phase Quantisation (LPQ) are then used within the mapped images. This provides feature vectors that can be implemented into a Random Forest (RF) classifier. The performance of a previous and the two new proposed methods, on the new database set, is compared in terms of classification accuracy, precision, recall, and F-measure. Results show that the new methods have a higher performance than the previous one, where LBP features achieve the best outcome

Retinal Vessel Segmentation Using the 2-D Morlet Wavelet and Supervised Classification

We present a method for automated segmentation of the vasculature in retinal images. The method produces segmentations by classifying each image pixel as vessel or non-vessel, based on the pixel's feature vector. Feature vectors are composed of the pixel's intensity and continuous two-dimensional Morlet wavelet transform responses taken at multiple scales. The Morlet wavelet is capable of tuning to specific frequencies, thus allowing noise filtering and vessel enhancement in a single step. We use a Bayesian classifier with class-conditional probability density functions (likelihoods) described as Gaussian mixtures, yielding a fast classification, while being able to model complex decision surfaces and compare its performance with the linear minimum squared error classifier. The probability distributions are estimated based on a training set of labeled pixels obtained from manual segmentations. The method's performance is evaluated on publicly available DRIVE and STARE databases of manually labeled non-mydriatic images. On the DRIVE database, it achieves an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.9598, being slightly superior than that presented by the method of Staal et al.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication in IEEE Trans Med Imag; added copyright notic

Computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in 2D and 3D medical imaging through multifractal analysis

This Thesis describes the research work performed in the scope of a doctoral research program and presents its conclusions and contributions. The research activities were carried on in the industry with Siemens S.A. Healthcare Sector, in integration with a research team. Siemens S.A. Healthcare Sector is one of the world biggest suppliers of products, services and complete solutions in the medical sector. The company offers a wide selection of diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and information systems. Siemens products for medical imaging and in vivo diagnostics include: ultrasound, computer tomography, mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, magnetic resonance, equipment to angiography and coronary angiography, nuclear imaging, and many others. Siemens has a vast experience in Healthcare and at the beginning of this project it was strategically interested in solutions to improve the detection of Breast Cancer, to increase its competitiveness in the sector. The company owns several patents related with self-similarity analysis, which formed the background of this Thesis. Furthermore, Siemens intended to explore commercially the computer- aided automatic detection and diagnosis eld for portfolio integration. Therefore, with the high knowledge acquired by University of Beira Interior in this area together with this Thesis, will allow Siemens to apply the most recent scienti c progress in the detection of the breast cancer, and it is foreseeable that together we can develop a new technology with high potential. The project resulted in the submission of two invention disclosures for evaluation in Siemens A.G., two articles published in peer-reviewed journals indexed in ISI Science Citation Index, two other articles submitted in peer-reviewed journals, and several international conference papers. This work on computer-aided-diagnosis in breast led to innovative software and novel processes of research and development, for which the project received the Siemens Innovation Award in 2012. It was very rewarding to carry on such technological and innovative project in a socially sensitive area as Breast Cancer.No cancro da mama a deteção precoce e o diagnóstico correto são de extrema importância na prescrição terapêutica e caz e e ciente, que potencie o aumento da taxa de sobrevivência à doença. A teoria multifractal foi inicialmente introduzida no contexto da análise de sinal e a sua utilidade foi demonstrada na descrição de comportamentos siológicos de bio-sinais e até na deteção e predição de patologias. Nesta Tese, três métodos multifractais foram estendidos para imagens bi-dimensionais (2D) e comparados na deteção de microcalci cações em mamogramas. Um destes métodos foi também adaptado para a classi cação de massas da mama, em cortes transversais 2D obtidos por ressonância magnética (RM) de mama, em grupos de massas provavelmente benignas e com suspeição de malignidade. Um novo método de análise multifractal usando a lacunaridade tri-dimensional (3D) foi proposto para classi cação de massas da mama em imagens volumétricas 3D de RM de mama. A análise multifractal revelou diferenças na complexidade subjacente às localizações das microcalci cações em relação aos tecidos normais, permitindo uma boa exatidão da sua deteção em mamogramas. Adicionalmente, foram extraídas por análise multifractal características dos tecidos que permitiram identi car os casos tipicamente recomendados para biópsia em imagens 2D de RM de mama. A análise multifractal 3D foi e caz na classi cação de lesões mamárias benignas e malignas em imagens 3D de RM de mama. Este método foi mais exato para esta classi cação do que o método 2D ou o método padrão de análise de contraste cinético tumoral. Em conclusão, a análise multifractal fornece informação útil para deteção auxiliada por computador em mamogra a e diagnóstico auxiliado por computador em imagens 2D e 3D de RM de mama, tendo o potencial de complementar a interpretação dos radiologistas

Digital Image-Based Frameworks for Monitoring and Controlling of Particulate Systems

Particulate processes have been widely involved in various industries and most products in the chemical industry today are manufactured as particulates. Previous research and practise illustrate that the final product quality can be influenced by particle properties such as size and shape which are related to operating conditions. Online characterization of these particles is an important step for maintaining desired product quality in particulate processes. Image-based characterization method for the purpose of monitoring and control particulate processes is very promising and attractive. The development of a digital image-based framework, in the context of this research, can be envisioned in two parts. One is performing image analysis and designing advanced algorithms for segmentation and texture analysis. The other is formulating and implementing modern predictive tools to establish the correlations between the texture features and the particle characteristics. According to the extent of touching and overlapping between particles in images, two image analysis methods were developed and tested. For slight touching problems, image segmentation algorithms were developed by introducing Wavelet Transform de-noising and Fuzzy C-means Clustering detecting the touching regions, and by adopting the intensity and geometry characteristics of touching areas. Since individual particles can be identified through image segmentation, particle number, particle equivalent diameter, and size distribution were used as the features. For severe touching and overlapping problems, texture analysis was carried out through the estimation of wavelet energy signature and fractal dimension based on wavelet decomposition on the objects. Predictive models for monitoring and control for particulate processes were formulated and implemented. Building on the feature extraction properties of the wavelet decomposition, a projection technique such as principal component analysis (PCA) was used to detect off-specification conditions which generate particle mean size deviates the target value. Furthermore, linear and nonlinear predictive models based on partial least squares (PLS) and artificial neural networks (ANN) were formulated, implemented and tested on an experimental facility to predict particle characteristics (mean size and standard deviation) from the image texture analysis

The Design and Implementation of an Image Segmentation System for Forest Image Analysis

The United States Forest Service (USFS) is developing software systems to evaluate forest resources with respect to qualities such as scenic beauty and vegetation structure. Such evaluations usually involve a large amount of human labor. In this thesis, I will discuss the design and implementation of a digital image segmentation system, and how to apply it to analyze forest images so that automated forest resource evaluation can be achieved. The first major contribution of the thesis is the evaluation of various feature design schemes for segmenting forest images. The other major contribution of this thesis is the development of a pattern recognition-based image segmentation algorithm. The best system performance was a 61.4% block classification error rate, achieved by combining color histograms with entropy. This performance is better than that obtained by an ?intelligent? guess based on prior knowledge about the categories under study, which is 68.0%