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Paper   IPM / Cognitive Sciences / 12322
School of Cognitive Sciences
  Title:   Segmentation of multiple sclerosis lesions in MR images: a review
  Author(s): 
1.  Daryoush Mortazavi
2.  Abbas Kouzani
3.  Hamid Soltanian Zadeh
  Status:   Published
  Journal: Neuroradiology
  Vol.:  54
  Year:  2012
  Pages:   299-320
  Supported by:  IPM
  Abstract:
Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease that the parts of the nervous system through the lesions enerated in the white matter of the brain. It brings about disabilities in different organs of the body such as eyes and muscles. Early detection of MS and estimation of its progression are critical for optimal treatment of the disease. Methods For diagnosis and treatment evaluation of MS lesions, they may be detected and segmented in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of the brain. However, due to the large amount of MRI data to be analyzed, manual segmentation of the lesions by clinical experts translates into a very cumbersome and time consuming task. In addition, manual segmentation is subjective and prone to human errors. Several groups have developed computerized methods to detect and segment MS lesions. These methods are not categorized and compared in the past. Results This paper reviews and compares various MS lesion segmentation methods proposed in recent years. It covers conventional methods like multilevel thresholding and region growing, as well as more recent Bayesian methods that require parameter estimation algorithms. It also covers parameter estimation methods like expectation maximization and adaptive mixture model which are among unsupervised techniques as well as kNN and Parzen window methods that are among supervised techniques. Conclusions Integration of knowledge-based methods such as atlas-based approaches with Bayesian methods increases segmentation accuracy. In addition, employing intelligent classifiers like Fuzzy C-Means, Fuzzy Inference Systems, and Artificial Neural Networks reduces misclassified voxels.

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