Using fourier-based shape alignment to add geometric prior to snakes

In this paper, we present a new algorithm of snakes with geometric prior. A method of shape alignment using Fourier coefficients is introduced to estimate the Euclidean transformation between the evolving snake and a template of the searched object. This allows the definition of a new field of forces making the evolving snake to have a shape similar to the template one. Furthermore, this strategy can be used to manage several possible templates by computing a shape distance to select the best one at each iteration. The new method also solves some well-known limitations of snakes such as evolution in concave boundaries, and enhances the robustness to noise and partially occluded objects. A series of experimental results is presented to illustrate performances.