Prostate Volume Segmentation in TRUS Using Hybrid Edge-Bhattacharyya Active Surfaces

Objective: We present a new hybrid edge and region-based parametric deformable model, or active surface, for prostate volume segmentation in transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) images. Methods: Our contribution is threefold. First, we develop a new edge detector derived from the radial bas-relief approach, allowing for better scalar prostate edge detection in low contrast configurations. Second, we combine an edge-based force derived from the proposed edge detector with a new region-based force driven by the Bhattacharyya gradient flow and adapted to the case of parametric active surfaces. Finally, we develop a quasi-automatic initialization technique for deformable models by analyzing the profiles of the proposed edge detector response radially to obtain initial landmark points toward which an initial surface model is warped. Results: We validate our method on a set of 36 TRUS images for which manual delineations were performed by two expert radiation oncologists, using a wide variety of quantitative metrics. The proposed hybrid model achieved state-of-the-art segmentation accuracy. Conclusion: Results demonstrate the interest of the proposed hybrid framework for accurate prostate volume segmentation. Significance: This paper presents a modular framework for accurate prostate volume segmentation in TRUS, broadening the range of available strategies to tackle this open problem.