A new level set method for inhomogeneous image segmentation

•We constructed a new region-based pressure force (RBPF) function.•We proposed a novel level set based model for inhomogeneous image segmentation.•We combine the local and global intensity information adaptively.•The local image information can significantly increase image contrast.•We apply a fast and simple level set method to implement the curve evolution.

Intensity inhomogeneity often appears in medical images, such as X-ray tomography and magnetic resonance (MR) images, due to technical limitations or artifacts introduced by the object being imaged. It is difficult to segment such images by traditional level set based segmentation models. In this paper, we propose a new level set method integrating local and global intensity information adaptively to segment inhomogeneous images. The local image information is associated with the intensity difference between the average of local intensity distribution and the original image, which can significantly increase the contrast between foreground and background. Thus, the images with intensity inhomogeneity can be efficiently segmented. What is more, to avoid the re-initialization of the level set function and shorten the computational time, a simple and fast level set evolution formulation is used in the numerical implementation. Experimental results on synthetic images as well as real medical images are shown in the paper to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method.