SEGMENTATION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEDICAL IMAGES USING DIFFUSION PROPAGATION, PIXEL CLASSIFICATION, AND MATHEMATICAL MORPHOLOGY

A method of digital imaging includes receiving image data and fitting a curve to boundaries within the image data. The curve is fit to the boundaries within the image data by extracting a region of interest from the image data and computing a signed distance transform in a narrow band within the region of interest. Finite difference equations including various variables are solved to determine a rate at which the distance transform changes. The distance transform is then diffused at that rate. The technique is based on region-based diffusion propagation, pixel classification, and mathematical morphology. The method is implemented to run in the narrow band of the region of interest specified by the user and the computations are implemented using a fast marching method in the narrow band. While idealized for distinguishing segments of white matter, gray matter, and cerebral spinal fluid in the brain, the algorithm can applied to find contours in any digital image.