Detection of white matter lesion regions in MRI using SLIC0 and convolutional neural network.

Journal: Computer methods and programs in biomedicine
Published Date:

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: White matter lesions are non-static brain lesions that have a prevalence rate up to 98% in the elderly population. Because they may be associated with several brain diseases, it is important that they are detected as soon as possible. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) provides three-dimensional data with the possibility to detect and emphasize contrast differences in soft tissues, providing rich information about the human soft tissue anatomy. However, the amount of data provided for these images is far too much for manual analysis/interpretation, representing a difficult and time-consuming task for specialists. This work presents a computational methodology capable of detecting regions of white matter lesions of the brain in MRI of FLAIR modality. The techniques highlighted in this methodology are SLIC0 clustering for candidate segmentation and convolutional neural networks for candidate classification.

Authors

  • Pedro Henrique Bandeira Diniz
    Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - PUC - RioR. São Vicente, 225, Gávea, RJ, Rio de Janeiro, 22453-900, Brazil. Electronic address: pedro_hbd@hotmail.com.
  • Thales Levi Azevedo Valente
    Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - PUC - RioR. São Vicente, 225, Gávea, RJ, Rio de Janeiro, 22453-900, Brazil. Electronic address: selaht7@gmail.com.
  • João Otávio Bandeira Diniz
    Federal University of Maranhão - UFMA Applied Computing Group - NCA Av. dos Portugueses, SN, Bacanga, MA, São Luís, 65085-580, Brazil. Electronic address: joao.obd@gmail.com.
  • Aristófanes Corrêa Silva
    Federal University of Maranhão - UFMA, Applied Computing Group - NCA/UFMA, Av. dos Portugueses, SN, Campus do Bacanga, Bacanga 65085-580, São Luís, MA, Brazil. Electronic address: ari@dee.ufma.br.
  • Marcelo Gattass
    Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro - PUC-Rio, R. São Vicente, 225, Gávea 22453-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Electronic address: mgattass@tecgraf.puc-rio.br.
  • Nina Ventura
    Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute - IECR. Lobo Júnior, 2293, Penha -RJ, 21070-060, Brazil. Electronic address: niventuraa@gmail.com.
  • Bernardo Carvalho Muniz
    Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute - IECR. Lobo Júnior, 2293, Penha -RJ, 21070-060, Brazil. Electronic address: bernardocmuniz@yahoo.com.br.
  • Emerson Leandro Gasparetto
    Paulo Niemeyer State Brain Institute - IECR. Lobo Júnior, 2293, Penha -RJ, 21070-060, Brazil. Electronic address: egasparetto@gmail.com.