Automatic segmentation of colon in 3D CT images and removal of opacified fluid using cascade feed forward neural network.

K Gayathri Devi,R Radhakrishnan

doi:10.1155/2015/670739

Abstract

Purpose. Colon segmentation is an essential step in the development of computer-aided diagnosis systems based on computed tomography (CT) images. The requirement for the detection of the polyps which lie on the walls of the colon is much needed in the field of medical imaging for diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Methods. The proposed work is focused on designing an efficient automatic colon segmentation algorithm from abdominal slices consisting of colons, partial volume effect, bowels, and lungs. The challenge lies in determining the exact colon enhanced with partial volume effect of the slice. In this work, adaptive thresholding technique is proposed for the segmentation of air packets, machine learning based cascade feed forward neural network enhanced with boundary detection algorithms are used which differentiate the segments of the lung and the fluids which are sediment at the side wall of colon and by rejecting bowels based on the slice difference removal method. The proposed neural network method is trained with Bayesian regulation algorithm to determine the partial volume effect. Results. Experiment was conducted on CT database images which results in 98% accuracy and minimal error rate. Conclusions. The main contribution of this work is the exploitation of neural network algorithm for removal of opacified fluid to attain desired colon segmentation result.

Highlights

Colorectal cancer occurs either in the colon or in the rectum
This paper focuses on the advantages of computer-aided detection (CAD) techniques for the segmentation of colon which will aid the identification of polyps for the detection of colorectal cancer
The proposed segmentation method is used for segmentation of colon and this will serve as a basis for the identification of polyps which will lie on the walls of the colon for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer

Summary

Introduction

Most colorectal cancers initially developed a colorectal polyp, which is growths inside the colon or rectum that may later become cancerous. It affects both men and women mostly above the age of 50. It is the third most common cancer among men after prostate and lung cancer [1]. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer after breast and lung cancers [2]. Because of this dreadful disease, research in colon segmentation has accelerated only in the last few years. A common approach involved in the segmentation of colon includes the following three steps

Results

Discussion

Conclusion