A Fully Unsupervised Image Segmentation Algorithm Based on Wavelet-Domain Hidden Markov Tree Models

Abstract

A fully unsupervised image segmentation algorithm is presented in this paper, in which wavelet-domain hidden Markov tree (WD-HMT) model is exploited together with the cluster analysis and validity techniques. The true number of textures in a given image is determined by calculating the likelihood disparity of textures using the modified partition fuzzy degree (MPFD) function at one suitable scale. Then, possibilistic C-means (PCM) clustering is performed to determine the training sample data from different textures according to the true number of textures obtained. The unsupervised segmentation is changed into self-supervised one, and the HMTseg algorithm is used to achieve the final segmentation results. This algorithm is applied to segment a variety of composite texture images into distinct homogeneous regions and good segmentation results are reported.