Some aspects of Dempster-Shafer evidence theory for classification of multi-modality medical images taking partial volume effect into account

Abstract

This paper points out some key features of Dempster-Shafer evidence theory for data fusion in medical imaging. Examples are provided to show its ability to take into account a large variety of situations, which actually often occur and are not always well managed by classical approaches nor by previous applications of Dempster-Shafer theory in medical imaging. The modelization of both uncertainty and imprecision, the introduction of possible partial or global ignorance, the computation of conflict between images, the possible introduction of a priori information are all powerful aspects of this theory, which deserve to be more exploited in medical image processing. They may be of great influence on the final decision. They are illustrated on a simple example for classifying brain tissues in pathological dual echo MR images. In particular, partial volume effect can be properly managed by this approach.