Model-based segmentation of the brain from 3-D MRI using active surfaces

Traditional segmentation approaches have proven inadequate when faced with the anatomical complexity and variability exhibited by biological structures such as the brain. A 3-D extension to the ´snakes´ algorithm has been implemented and used to segment the brain surface from MRI image volumes of the head in an effort to investigate model-based, top-down segmentation strategies. These active surfaces allow closed surfaces of complex objects to be recovered using a priori knowledge in the form of initial conditions and applied external forces. Preliminary results suggest that active surfaces may be initialized according to a preconceived model and adaptively deformed by image data to recover the desired object surface