Markov random field

About: Markov random field is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5669 publications have been published within this topic receiving 179568 citations. The topic is also known as: MRF.

A Discriminative Model-Constrained Graph Cuts Approach to Fully Automated Pediatric Brain Tumor Segmentation in 3-D MRI

Abstract: In this paper we present a fully automated approach to the segmentation of pediatric brain tumors in multi-spectral 3-D magnetic resonance images. It is a top-down segmentation approach based on a Markov random field (MRF) model that combines probabilistic boosting trees (PBT) and lower-level segmentation via graph cuts. The PBT algorithm provides a strong discriminative observation model that classifies tumor appearance while a spatial prior takes into account the pair-wise homogeneity in terms of classification labels and multi-spectral voxel intensities. The discriminative model relies not only on observed local intensities but also on surrounding context for detecting candidate regions for pathology. A mathematically sound formulation for integrating the two approaches into a unified statistical framework is given. The proposed method is applied to the challenging task of detection and delineation of pediatric brain tumors. This segmentation task is characterized by a high non-uniformity of both the pathology and the surrounding non-pathologic brain tissue. A quantitative evaluation illustrates the robustness of the proposed method. Despite dealing with more complicated cases of pediatric brain tumorsthe results obtained are mostly better than those reported for current state-of-the-art approaches to 3-D MR brain tumor segmentation in adult patients. The entire processing of one multi-spectral data set does not require any user interaction, and takes less time than previously proposed methods.

A spatio-temporal approach to collaborative filtering

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a novel spatio-temporal model for collaborative filtering applications. Our model is based on low-rank matrix factorization that uses a spatio-temporal filtering approach to estimate user and item factors. The spatial component regularizes the factors by exploiting correlation across users and/or items, modeled as a function of some implicit feedback (e.g., who rated what) and/or some side information (e.g., user demographics, browsing history). In particular, we incorporate correlation in factors through a Markov random field prior in a probabilistic framework, whereby the neighborhood weights are functions of user and item covariates. The temporal component ensures that the user/item factors adapt to process changes that occur through time and is implemented in a state space framework with fast estimation through Kalman filtering. Our spatio-temporal filtering (ST-KF hereafter) approach provides a single joint model to simultaneously incorporate both spatial and temporal structure in ratings and therefore provides an accurate method to predict future ratings. To ensure scalability of ST-KF, we employ a mean-field approximation for inference. Incorporating user/item covariates in estimating neighborhood weights also helps in dealing with both cold-start and warm-start problems seamlessly in a single unified modeling framework; covariates predict factors for new users and items through the neighborhood. We illustrate our method on simulated data, benchmark data and data obtained from a relatively new recommender system application arising in the context of Yahoo! Front Page.

Adaptive noise reduction of InSAR images based on a complex-valued MRF model and its application t o phase unwrapping problem

Abstract: We propose a new adaptive noise reduction method for interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) complex-amplitude images. In the proposed method, we detect residues (singular points) in the phase image as well as their neighbors at first. Normal areas that contain no residue are used for the estimation of correct pixel values at the marked residues according to 5th order non-causal complex-valued Markov random field (CMRF) model. The process is performed block-wise with the assumption of a locally stationary condition of statistics. Using a CMRF lattice complex-valued neural-network, the error energy defined as the squared norm of distance between signal and estimated values is minimized by LMS steepest descent algorithm. Eventually, the number of residues is decreased. An application is also presented. An InSAR image around Mt. Fuji is processed by the proposed technique and then phase-unwrapped by the branch-cut method. It is found that after the application of the proposed method, a better phase unwrapped image can be obtained successfully.