Scalable Group Level Probabilistic Sparse Factor Analysis

Many data-driven approaches exist to extract neural representations of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, but most of them lack a proper probabilistic formulation. We propose a group level scalable probabilistic sparse factor analysis (psFA) allowing spatially sparse maps, component pruning using automatic relevance determination (ARD) and subject specific heteroscedastic spatial noise modeling. For task-based and resting state fMRI, we show that the sparsity constraint gives rise to components similar to those obtained by group independent component analysis. The noise modeling shows that noise is reduced in areas typically associated with activation by the experimental design. The psFA model identifies sparse components and the probabilistic setting provides a natural way to handle parameter uncertainties. The variational Bayesian framework easily extends to more complex noise models than the presently considered.Comment: 10 pages plus 5 pages appendix, Submitted to ICASSP 1

A Bayesian approach for CT reconstruction with defect detection for subsea pipelines

Subsea pipelines can be inspected via 2D cross-sectional x-ray computed tomography (CT). Traditional reconstruction methods produce an image of the pipe’s interior that can be post-processed for detection of possible defects. In this paper we propose a novel Bayesian CT reconstruction method with built-in defect detection. We decompose the reconstruction into a sum of two images; one containing the overall pipe structure, and one containing defects, and infer the images simultaneously in a Gibbs scheme. Our method requires that prior information about the two images is very distinct, i.e. the first image should contain the large-scale and layered pipe structure, and the second image should contain small, coherent defects. We demonstrate our methodology with numerical experiments using synthetic and real CT data from scans of subsea pipes in cases with full and limited data. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in various data settings, with reconstruction quality comparable to existing techniques, while also providing defect detection with uncertainty quantification.</p