Abstract: In this work we present the iterative multi-class multi-scale stacked sequential learning framework (IMMSSL), a novel learning scheme that is particularly suited for medical volume segmentation applications. This model exploits the inherent voxel contextual information of the structures of interest in order to improve its segmentation performance results. Without any feature set or learning algorithm prior assumption, the proposed scheme directly seeks to learn the contextual properties of a region from the predicted classifications of previous classifiers within an iterative scheme. Performance results regarding segmentation accuracy in three two-class and multi-class medical volume datasets show a significant improvement with respect to state of the art alternatives. Due to its easiness of implementation and its independence of feature space and learning algorithm, the presented machine learning framework could be taken into consideration as a first choice in complex volume segmentation scenarios.

Abstract: In this work we present a comprehensive computational framework to help in the clinical assessment of cancer response from a pair of time consecutive oncological PET-CT scans. In this scenario, the design and implementation of a supervised machine learning system to predict and quantify cancer progression or response conditions by introducing a novel feature set that models the underlying clinical context is described. Performance results in 100 clinical cases (corresponding to 200 whole body PET-CT scans) in comparing expert-based visual analysis and classifier decision making show up to 70% accuracy within a completely automatic pipeline and 90% accuracy when providing the system with expert-guided PET tumor segmentation masks.

Abstract: Wireless Capsule Endoscopy (WCE) provides a new perspective of the small intestine, since it enables, for the first time, visualization of the entire organ. However, the long visual video analysis time, due to the large number of data in a single WCE study, was an important factor impeding the widespread use of the capsule as a tool for intestinal abnormalities detection. Therefore, the introduction of WCE triggered a new field for the application of computational methods, and in particular, of computer vision. In this paper, we follow the computational approach and come up with a new perspective on the small intestine motility problem. Our approach consists of three steps: first, we review a tool for the visualization of the motility information contained in WCE video; second, we propose algorithms for the characterization of two motility building-blocks: contraction detector and lumen size estimation; finally, we introduce an approach to detect segments of stable motility behavior. Our claims are supported by an evaluation performed with 10 WCE videos, suggesting that our methods ably capture the intestinal motility information.