Polar snakes: a fast and robust parametric active contour model

We present in this paper a way to perform a fast and robust image segmentation and to track a contour along a sequence of images. Our approach is based on a dynamic deformable model. More precisely, we revisit the physics basedmodel proposed in [1] to show the benefit of using a polar description to model the contour, in particular to cope with the well-known initialization problem. Indeed, we show that this way to proceed leads to diagonal and constant matrices in the equations of the snake evolution yielding therefore to a faster algorithm. Experimental results on image segmentation and contour tracking validate the efficiency of this new formulation. Index Terms — Active contour model, polar description, segmentation, contour tracking. 1

Optimizing plane-to-plane positioning tasks by image-based visual servoing and structured light

This paper considers the problem of positioning an eye-in-hand system so that it gets parallel to a planar object. Our approach to this problem is based on linking to the camera a structured light emitter designed to produce a suitable set of visual features. The aim of using structured light is not only for simplifying the image processing and allowing lowtextured objects to be considered, but also for producing a control scheme with nice properties like decoupling, convergence and adequate camera trajectory. This paper focuses on an imagebased approach that achieves decoupling in all the workspace and for which the global convergence is ensured in perfect conditions. The behavior of the image-based approach is shown to be partially equivalent to a 3D visual servoing scheme but with a better robustness with respect to image noise. Concerning the robustness of the approach against calibration errors, it is demonstrated both analytically and experimentally

Active rough shape estimation of unknown objects

International audienceThis paper presents a method to determine the rough shape of an object. This is a step in the development of a One Click Grasping Tool, a grasping tool of everyday-life objects for an assistant robot dedicated to elderly or disabled. The goal is to determine the quadric that approximates at best the shape of an unknown object using multi-view measurements. Non-linear optimization techniques are considered to achieve this goal. Since multiple views are necessary, an active vision process is considered in order to minimize the uncertainty on the estimated parameters and determine the next best view. Finally, results that show the validity of the approach are presented

A photometric model for specular highlights and lighting changes. Application to feature points tracking

International audienceThis article proposes a local photometric model that compensates for specular highlights and lighting variations due to position and intensity changes. We define clearly on which assumptions it is based, according to widely used reflection models. Moreover, its theoritical validity is studied according to few configurations of the scene geometry (lighting, camera and object relative locations). Next, this model is used to improve the robustness of points tracking in luminance images with respect to specular highlights and lighting changes

Débruitage et correction d'images IRM. Application à la caractérisation de produits agroalimentaires

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive modality designed for clinical diagnosis. Other domains also exploit this technique, such as food products analysis. The applicative aim of our work is the study of the repartition of fat tissues in fish. We are particularly interested in the quantification of the tissues. An accurate quantification requires the denoising of the images and the correction of the intensity inhomogeneities due to the spatial variation of the radiofrequency magnetic field (RF). We use T1-weighted images. In this case, the effects of the RF inhomogeneities are complex since the bias that is induced in the images depends on the tissue. The proposed method takes place in the inverse problem framework where denoising and correcting are tackled jointly. It is based on a physical model of the MRI signal and a model of the sample considered as made of a finite number of tissues. The method relies on the minimisation of a penalised criterion. This criterion consists of a data-fitting term added with regularisation terms in order to ensure spatially smooth solutions while preserving the edges in the image. The method needs several images acquired with different protocols. The minimisation is based on a block-coordinate descent approach where each block consists in iterations of the conjugate gradient algorithm. Results obtained on images of fish validate our approach. We also present preliminary results on the optimisation of the choice of the protocols which lead to the best estimation of the variables. These results rely on the theory of experiment planning.L'imagerie par résonance magnétique (IRM) est une modalité non-invasive développée pour le diagnostic clinique. D'autres domaines se sont approprié cette technique, comme l'analyse de produits agroalimentaires. Le cadre applicatif de nos travaux est l'étude de la répartition des tissus adipeux chez le poisson en IRM bas champ. Au-delà de la visualisation, c'est la quantification des tissus qui nous intéresse ici. Une quantification précise requiert le débruitage des images et la correction des inhomogénéités d'intensité liées à la variation spatiale du champ magnétique radiofréquence (RF). En IRM pondérée-T1 utilisée ici, les inhomogénéités de la RF ont un effet complexe et introduisent un biais qui dépend du tissu en présence. La méthode proposée aborde de façon unifiée la correction et le débruitage dans le cadre de la résolution des problèmes inverses. Elle prend en compte un modèle de biais issu de la physique de l'IRM auquel s'ajoute un modèle de l'échantillon vu comme une somme pondérée de tissus. La méthode est basée sur la minimisation d'un critère pénalisé comprenant des termes d'attache aux données et des termes de régularisation assurant des solutions spatialement lisses tout en conservant les contours dans l'image. Elle impose d'acquérir plusieurs images avec des protocoles différents. La minimisation est basée sur une résolution par blocs de variables, chaque bloc faisant appel à l'algorithme du gradient conjugué. Des résultats obtenus sur des images de poisson valident l'approche. Nous présentons de plus les résultats préliminaires d'une démarche de planification d'expérience pour choisir les protocoles permettant une estimation optimale des variables

A study on local photometric models and their application to robust tracking

International audienceSince modeling reflections in image processing is a difficult task, most com- puter vision algorithms assume that objects are Lambertian and that no lighting change occurs. Some photometric models can partly answer this issue by assuming that the lighting changes are the same at each point of a small window of interest. Through a study based on specular reflection models, we explicit the assumptions on which these models are implicitly based and the situations in which they could fail. This paper proposes two photometric models, which compensate for spec- ular highlights and lighting variations. They assume that photometric changes vary smoothly on the window of interest. Contrary to classical models, the characteristics of the object surface and the lighting changes can vary in the area being observed. First, we study the validity of these models with re- spect to the acquisition setup: relative locations between the light source, the sensor and the object as well as the roughness of the surface. Then, these models are used to improve feature points tracking by simultaneously estimating the photometric and geometric changes. The proposed methods are compared to well-known tracking methods robust to affine photometric changes. Experimental results on specular objects demonstrate the robust- ness of our approaches to specular highlights and lighting changes

Spatially regularized multi-exponential transverse relaxation times estimation from magnitude MRI images under Rician noise

International audienceSynopsis This work aims at improving the estimation of multi-exponential transverse relaxation times from noisy magnitude MRI images. A spatially regularized Maximum-Likelihood estimator accounting for the Rician distribution of the noise was introduced. This approach is compared to a Rician corrected least-square criterion with the introduction of spatial regularization. To deal with the large-scale optimization problem, a majoration-minimization approach was used, allowing the implementation of both the maximum-likelihood estimator and the spatial regularization. The importance of the regularization alongside the rician noise incorporation is shown both visually and numerically on magnitude MRI images acquired on fruit samples. Purpose Multi-exponential relaxation times and their associated amplitudes in an MRI image provide very useful information for assessing the constituents of the imaged sample. Typical examples are the detection of water compartments of plant tissues and the quanti cation of myelin water fraction for multiple sclerosis disease diagnosis. The estimation of the multi-exponential signal model from magnitude MRI images faces the problem of a relatively low signal to noise ratio (SNR), with a Rician distributed noise and a large-scale optimization problem when dealing with the entire image. Actually, maps are composed of coherent regions with smooth variations between neighboring voxels. This study proposes an e cient reconstruction method of values and amplitudes from magnitude images by incorporating this information in order to reduce the noise e ect. The main feature of the method is to use a regularized maximum likelihood estimator derived from a Rician likelihood and a Majorization-Minimization approach coupled with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm to solve the large-scale optimization problem. Tests were conducted on apples and the numerical results are given to illustrate the relevance of this method and to discuss its performances. Methods For each voxel of the MRI image, the measured signal at echo time is represented by a multi-exponential model: with The data are subject to an additive Gaussian noise in the complex domain and therefore magnitude MRI data follows a Rician distribution : is the rst kind modi ed Bessel function of order 0 and is the standard deviation of the noise which is usually estimated from the image background. For an MRI image with voxels, the model parameters are usually estimated by minimizing the least-squares (LS) criterion under the assumption of a Gaussian noise using nonlinear LS solvers such as Levenberg-Marquardt (LM). However, this approach does not yield satisfying results when applied to magnitude data. Several solutions to overcome this issue are proposed by adding a correction term to the LS criterion. In this study, the retained correction uses the expectation value of data model under the hypothesis of Rician distribution since it outperforms the other correction strategies: stands for the sum of squares. We refer to this method as Rician corrected LS (RCLS). A more direct way for solving this estimation problem is to use a maximum likelihood (ML) estimator which comes down to minimize: To solve this optimization problem when dealing with the entire image, a majorization-minimization (MM) technique was adopted. The resulting MM-ML algorithm is summarized in gure 1, the LM algorithm used in this method minimizes a set of LS criteria derived from the quadratic majorization strategy. A spatial regularization term based on a cost function was also added to both criteria (and) to ensure spatial smoothness of the estimated maps. In order to reduce the numerical complexity by maintaining variable separability between each voxel and it's neighboring voxels , the function is majorized by : where stands for the iteration number of the iterative optimization algorithm