Abstract: Dynamic tracking of heart moving is one relevant target in medical imag- ing and can be helpful for analyzing heart dynamics in the study of several cardiac diseases. For this aim, a previous segmentation problem of such structures is stated, based on certain relevant features (like edges or intensity levels, textures, etc.) Clas- sical active models have been used, but they fail when overlapping structures or not well-defined contours are present. Automatic feature learning systems may be a pow- erful tool. Discriminant active contours present optimal results in this kind of problem. They are a kind of deformable models that converge to an optimal object segmenta- tion that dynamically adapts to the object contour. The feature space is designed from a filter bank in order to guarantee the search and learning of the set of relevant fea- tures for optimal classification on each part of the object. Tracking of target evolution is obtained through the whole set of images, using information from the actual and previous stages. Feedback systems are implemented to guarantee the minimum well- separable classification set in each segmentation step. Our implementation has been proved with several series of Magnetic Resonance with improved results in segmenta- tion in comparison to previous methods.

Abstract: This paper surveys the state of the art on multimodal gesture recognition and introduces the JMLR special topic on gesture recognition 2011–2015. We began right at the start of the Kinect TMTM revolution when inexpensive infrared cameras providing image depth recordings became available. We published papers using this technology and other more conventional methods, including regular video cameras, to record data, thus providing a good overview of uses of machine learning and computer vision using multimodal data in this area of application. Notably, we organized a series of challenges and made available several datasets we recorded for that purpose, including tens of thousands of videos, which are available to conduct further research. We also overview recent state of the art works on gesture recognition based on a proposed taxonomy for gesture recognition, discussing challenges and future lines of research.

Abstract: Small Bowel Motility Assessment by means of Wireless Capsule Video Endoscopy constitutes a novel clinical methodology in which a capsule with a micro-camera attached to it is swallowed by the patient, emitting a RF signal which is recorded as a video of its trip throughout the gut. In order to overcome the main drawbacks associated with this technique -mainly related to the large amount of visualization time required-, our efforts have been focused on the development of a machine learning system, built up in sequential stages, which provides the specialists with the useful part of the video, rejecting those parts not valid for analysis. We successfully used Self Organized Maps in a general semi-supervised framework with the aim of tackling the different learning stages of our system. The analysis of the diverse types of images and the automatic detection of intestinal contractions is performed under the perspective of intestinal motility assessment in a clinical environment.

Abstract: This work presents a content-based image retrieval system of general purpose that deals with cluttered scenes containing a given query object. The system is flexible enough to handle with a single image of an object despite its rotation, translation and scale variations. The image content is divided in parts that are described with a combination of features based on geometrical and color properties. The idea behind the feature combination is to benefit from a fuzzy similarity computation that provides robustness and tolerance to the retrieval process. The features can be independently computed and the image parts can be easily indexed by using a table structure on every feature value. Finally a process inspired in the alignment strategies is used to check the coherence of the object parts found in a scene. Our work presents a system of easy implementation that uses an open set of features and can suit a wide variety of applications.