Improving Brain MRI Image Segmentation Quality: A Hybrid Technique for Intensity Inhomogeneity Correction

Intensity inhomogeneity is a significant issue in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), where the presence of bias field causes distortions in pixel values, resulting in inconsistent and erroneous intensities across the image. This artifact not only hampers accurate diagnosis by radiologists but also negatively impacts the performance of computer-aided diagnosis algorithms, particularly in tasks like segmentation. In our proposed approach, we use a hybrid technique called KIFCM, which integrates K-means and Fuzzy C-means to enhance brain tumor segmentation. K-means provides computational efficiency, while Fuzzy C-means improves accuracy by detecting missed tumor cells. We employ a bias correction method based on the level set framework, removing noise with a median filter and applying the hybrid KIFCM technique for optimal segmentation. Our method effectively addresses intensity variation challenges, ensuring precise brain tumor region segmentation. We compare our results with DFCM and MFFLs, and the comparison shows the efficiency of our proposed method by highlighting the superior quality and accuracy of 81% achieved, requiring less computational time. Consequently, our results demonstrate KIFCM's potential to boost both accuracy and speed in MRI-based brain tumor detection through computer-aided diagnosis.