Automatic Segmentation of Brain MR Images of Neonates and Premature Infants using KNN Classifier

This paper focuses on the development of an accurate neonatal brain MRI segmentation algorithm and its clinical application to characterize normal brain development and investigate the neuro-anatomical correlates of cognitive impairments. Neonatal brain segmentation is challenging due to the large anatomical variability as a result of the rapid brain development in the neonatal period. The segmentation of MR images of the neonatal brain is a fundamental step in the study and assessment of infant brain development. The highest level of development techniques for adult brain MRI segmentation are not suitable for neonatal brain, because of substantial contrasts in structure and tissue properties between newborn and adult brains. Existing newborn brain MRI segmentation approaches either depend on manual interaction or require the utilization of atlases or templates, which unavoidably presents a bias of the results towards the population that was utilized to derive the atlases. In this paper, we proposed an atlas-free approach for the segmentation of neonatal brain MRI, based on the KNN classifier. The segmentation of the brain in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a prerequisite to obtain quantitative measurements of regional brain structures. These measurements allow characterization of the regional brain development and the investigation of correlations with clinical factors. Keywords-KNN; Newborn; Premature; Segmentation, MRI.