Three-dimensional image segmentation using neural networks

Abstract

Automatic volumetric quantification can be performed for various parameters of an object by providing volumetric data, such as three-dimensional image data, to at least one neural network. A network can extract features from the data that can be used to infer a point cloud representative of the surface of the object. One or more loss functions can be used to adjust the relevant network parameters. The network can also attempt to infer a segmentation mask for the object, indicating which data values correspond to the object of interest. Since the network performs the segmentation and point cloud generation in parallel, updates to the network parameters can impact the segmentation process, effectively constraining the segmentation based on the inferred shape of the object. Ensuring that the segmentation mask corresponds closely to the surface of the object can cause the segmentation process to be more accurate than conventional segmentation processes alone.