Active contour model based on force field analysis

Abstract

The traditional snake initial contour should be close to the true boundary of an object of interest in an image; otherwise, an incorrect result will be obtained. Next, active contours have difficulties progressing into boundary concavities. Moreover, the traditional snake as well as almost all of its improved methods can be easily obtained from the local minimum because snake models are nonconvex. An active contour model based on force field analysis (FFA), namely, FFA snake model, is presented in this paper. Based on analyzing force distribution rules of the distance potential force field, a standard is introduced here to distinguish the false one from contour points. The result is not considered as the final solution when the snake energy is minimal. Furthermore, estimation and calculation should be made according to the established standard; only then can the result be considered final. Thus, the snake is prevented from running into the local minimum. The simulation results show that the FFA snake model has a large capture range and can move a snake into the boundary concavities, and that it is able to obtain the object of interest’s contour precisely. Compared with the gradient vector flow snake, this new model has a low computational cost.