Distributed Behavior-based Multi-agent System for Automatic Segmentation of Brain MR Images

A novel multi-agent image segmentation system for MR Images is proposed. The agents are behavior-based autonomous entities that are situated in the image as their environment. The agents have local knowledge and cooperate in an implicit and simple manner to achieve globally rational team behavior. Incremental design of agents and their simple interactions facilitate incorporation of expert knowledge and properties of the specific application in the agents' mind. The system has been applied to MRI brain scans for segmentation of three pairs of structures. The results are satisfactory in terms of both average performance and robustness. The system is also proved to be robust against initialization of the agents.

[1]  Edmund H. Durfee,et al.  Distributed Problem Solving and Planning , 2001, EASSS.

[2]  Rodney A. Brooks,et al.  Cambrian Intelligence: The Early History of the New AI , 1999 .

[3]  Demetri Terzopoulos,et al.  Topology adaptive deformable surfaces for medical image volume segmentation , 1999, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[4]  Paul A. Yushkevich,et al.  Segmentation, registration, and measurement of shape variation via image object shape , 1999, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[5]  PhD Jean C. Tamraz MD,et al.  Atlas of Regional Anatomy of the Brain Using MRI , 2000, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[6]  Michael N. Huhns,et al.  Multiagent systems and societies of agents , 1999 .

[7]  R. Bajcsy,et al.  Elastically Deforming 3D Atlas to Match Anatomical Brain Images , 1993, Journal of computer assisted tomography.

[8]  Peter Norvig,et al.  Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach , 1995 .

[9]  Ron Kikinis,et al.  Volumetric Evaluation of the Thalamus in Schizophrenic Male Patients Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging , 1998, Biological Psychiatry.

[10]  S. Resnick,et al.  Measuring Size and Shape of the Hippocampus in MR Images Using a Deformable Shape Model , 2002, NeuroImage.

[11]  Catherine Garbay,et al.  A Society of Goal-Oriented Agents for the Analysis of Living Cells , 1997, AIME.

[12]  Johan H. C. Reiber,et al.  Multi-agent segmentation of IVUS images , 2004, Pattern Recognit..

[13]  Vincent Barra,et al.  Automatic segmentation of subcortical brain structures in MR images using information fusion , 2001, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[14]  F. Jolesz,et al.  1996 RSNA Eugene P. Pendergrass New Horizons Lecture. Image-guided procedures and the operating room of the future. , 1997, Radiology.

[15]  Jayaram K. Udupa,et al.  A framework for evaluating image segmentation algorithms , 2006, Comput. Medical Imaging Graph..

[16]  Paul A. Yushkevich,et al.  Multiscale deformable model segmentation and statistical shape analysis using medial descriptions , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[17]  Marinette Revenu,et al.  Borg: A Knowledge-Based System for Automatic Generation of Image Processing Programs , 1999, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[18]  Hossein Mobahi,et al.  Fast initialization of active contours , 2004, 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37566).

[19]  Guillermo Ricardo Simari,et al.  Multiagent systems: a modern approach to distributed artificial intelligence , 2000 .

[20]  Christopher J. Taylor,et al.  A cooperative framework for segmentation of MRI brain scans , 2000, Artif. Intell. Medicine.

[21]  Milan Sonka,et al.  Knowledge-based interpretation of MR brain images , 1996, IEEE Trans. Medical Imaging.

[22]  S. Foufou,et al.  MRF and multiagent system based approach for image segmentation , 2004, 2004 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Technology, 2004. IEEE ICIT '04..

[23]  Koenraad Van Leemput,et al.  Automated segmentation of multiple sclerosis lesions by model outlier detection , 2001, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[24]  Yuan Yan Tang,et al.  Adaptive Image Segmentation With Distributed Behavior-Based Agents , 1999, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[25]  Tuomas Sandholm,et al.  Distributed rational decision making , 1999 .

[26]  Richard Lepage,et al.  Knowledge-Based Image Understanding Systems: A Survey , 1997, Comput. Vis. Image Underst..

[27]  Gary E. Christensen,et al.  Consistent image registration , 2001, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[28]  Marco Dorigo,et al.  Swarm intelligence: from natural to artificial systems , 1999 .

[29]  J. Thirion,et al.  Automatic detection of hippocampal atrophy on magnetic resonance images. , 1999, Magnetic resonance imaging.