@phdthesis{Gloger2012,
  author    = {Oliver Gloger},
  title     = {Combined Applications of the Level Set Method with Multi-Step Recognition and Refinement Algorithms for Fully Automatic Organ and Tissue Segmentation in MRI Data},
  journal    = {Kombinierte Anwendungen der Level Set Methode mit mehrstufigen Erkennungs- und Verfeinerungsalgorithmen zur vollautomatischen Organ- und Gewebssegmentierung in MRT-Datens{\"a}tzen},
  url       = {https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:9-001240-4},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {The goal of this doctoral thesis is to create and to implement methods for fully automatic segmentation applications in magnetic resonance images and datasets. The work introduces into technical and physical backgrounds of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and summarizes essential segmentation challenges in MRI data including technical malfunctions and ill-posedness of inverse segmentation problems. Theoretical background knowledge of all the used methods that are adapted and extended to combine them for problem-specific segmentation applications are explained in more detail. The first application for the implemented solutions in this work deals with two-dimensional tissue segmentation of atherosclerotic plaques in cardiological MRI data. The main part of segmentation solutions is designed for fully automatic liver and kidney parenchyma segmentation in three-dimensional MRI datasets to ensure computer-assisted organ volumetry in epidemiological studies. The results for every application are listed, described and discussed before important conclusions are drawn. Among several applied methods, the level set method is the main focus of this work and is used as central segmentation concept in the most applications. Thus, its possibilities and limitations for MRI data segmentation are analyzed. The level set method is extended by several new ideas to overcome possible limitations and it is combined as important part of modularized frameworks. Additionally, a new approach for probability map generation is presented in this thesis, which reduces data dimensionality of multiple MR-weightings and incorporates organ position probabilities in a probabilistic framework. It is shown, that essential organ features (i.e. MR-intensity distributions, locations) can be well represented in the calculated probability maps. Since MRI data are produced by using multiple MR- weightings, the used dimensionality reduction technique is very helpful to generate a single probability map, which can be used for further segmentation steps in a modularized framework.},
  language  = {en}
}