An adaptive neuro-fuzzy system for automatic image segmentation and edge detection

An autoadaptive neuro-fuzzy segmentation and edge detection architecture is presented. The system consists of a multilayer perceptron (MLP)-like network that performs image segmentation by adaptive thresholding of the input image using labels automatically pre-selected by a fuzzy clustering technique. The proposed architecture is feedforward, but unlike the conventional MLP the learning is unsupervised. The output status of the network is described as a fuzzy set. Fuzzy entropy is used as a measure of the error of the segmentation system as well as a criterion for determining potential edge pixels. The proposed system is capable to perform automatic multilevel segmentation of images, based solely on information contained by the image itself. No a priori assumptions whatsoever are made about the image (type, features, contents, stochastic model, etc.). Such an "universal" algorithm is most useful for applications that are supposed to work with different (and possibly initially unknown) types of images. The proposed system can be readily employed, "as is," or as a basic building block by a more sophisticated and/or application-specific image segmentation algorithm. By monitoring the fuzzy entropy relaxation process, the system is able to detect edge pixels.