# Data Augmentation for Deep Learning

This notebook illustrates the use of SimpleITK to perform data augmentation for deep learning. Note that the code is written so that the relevant functions work for both 2D and 3D images without modification.

Data augmentation is a model based approach for enlarging your training set. The problem being addressed is that the original dataset is not sufficiently representative of the general population of images. As a consequence, if we only train on the original dataset the resulting network will not generalize well to the population (overfitting).

Using a model of the variations found in the general population and the existing dataset we generate additional images in the hope of capturing the population variability. Note that if the model you use is incorrect you can cause harm, you are generating observations that do not occur in the general population and are optimizing a function to fit them.

In [1]:
import SimpleITK as sitk
import numpy as np

%matplotlib notebook
import gui

OUTPUT_DIR = 'Output'


# Before we start, a word of caution¶

Whenever you sample there is potential for aliasing (Nyquist theorem).

In many cases, data prepared for use with a deep learning network is resampled to a fixed size. When we perform data augmentation via spatial transformations we also perform resampling.

Admittedly, the example below is exaggerated to illustrate the point, but it serves as a reminder that you may want to consider smoothing your images prior to resampling.

The effects of aliasing also play a role in network performance stability: A. Azulay, Y. Weiss, "Why do deep convolutional networks generalize so poorly to small image transformations?" CoRR abs/1805.12177, 2018.

In [2]:
# The image we will resample (a grid).
grid_image = sitk.GridSource(outputPixelType=sitk.sitkUInt16, size=(512,512),
sigma=(0.1,0.1), gridSpacing=(20.0,20.0))
sitk.Show(grid_image, "original grid image")

# The spatial definition of the images we want to use in a deep learning framework (smaller than the original).
new_size = [100, 100]
reference_image = sitk.Image(new_size, grid_image.GetPixelIDValue())
reference_image.SetOrigin(grid_image.GetOrigin())
reference_image.SetDirection(grid_image.GetDirection())
reference_image.SetSpacing([sz*spc/nsz for nsz,sz,spc in zip(new_size, grid_image.GetSize(), grid_image.GetSpacing())])

# Resample without any smoothing.
sitk.Show(sitk.Resample(grid_image, reference_image) , "resampled without smoothing")

# Resample after Gaussian smoothing.
sitk.Show(sitk.Resample(sitk.SmoothingRecursiveGaussian(grid_image, 2.0), reference_image), "resampled with smoothing")


Load the images. You can work through the notebook using either the original 3D images or 2D slices from the original volumes. To do the latter, just uncomment the line in the cell below.

In [3]:
data = [sitk.ReadImage(fdata("nac-hncma-atlas2013-Slicer4Version/Data/A1_grayT1.nrrd")),
# Comment out the following line if you want to work in 3D. Note that in 3D some of the notebook visualizations are
# disabled.
data = [data[0][:,160,:], data[1][:,:,17], data[2][:,:,0]]

Fetching nac-hncma-atlas2013-Slicer4Version/Data/A1_grayT1.nrrd

In [4]:
def disp_images(images, fig_size, wl_list=None):
if images[0].GetDimension()==2:
gui.multi_image_display2D(image_list=images, figure_size=fig_size, window_level_list=wl_list)
else:
gui.MultiImageDisplay(image_list=images, figure_size=fig_size, window_level_list=wl_list)

disp_images(data, fig_size=(6,2))


The original data often needs to be modified. In this example we would like to crop the images so that we only keep the informative regions. We can readily separate the foreground and background using an appropriate threshold, in our case we use Otsu's threshold selection method.

In [5]:
def threshold_based_crop(image):
"""
Use Otsu's threshold estimator to separate background and foreground. In medical imaging the background is
usually air. Then crop the image using the foreground's axis aligned bounding box.
Args:
image (SimpleITK image): An image where the anatomy and background intensities form a bi-modal distribution
(the assumption underlying Otsu's method.)
Return:
Cropped image based on foreground's axis aligned bounding box.
"""
# Set pixels that are in [min_intensity,otsu_threshold] to inside_value, values above otsu_threshold are
# set to outside_value. The anatomy has higher intensity values than the background, so it is outside.
inside_value = 0
outside_value = 255
label_shape_filter = sitk.LabelShapeStatisticsImageFilter()
label_shape_filter.Execute( sitk.OtsuThreshold(image, inside_value, outside_value) )
bounding_box = label_shape_filter.GetBoundingBox(outside_value)
# The bounding box's first "dim" entries are the starting index and last "dim" entries the size
return sitk.RegionOfInterest(image, bounding_box[int(len(bounding_box)/2):], bounding_box[0:int(len(bounding_box)/2)])

modified_data = [threshold_based_crop(img) for img in data]

disp_images(modified_data, fig_size=(6,2))


At this point we select the images we want to work with, skip the following cell if you want to work with the original data.

In [6]:
data = modified_data


# Augmentation using spatial transformations¶

We next illustrate the generation of images by specifying a list of transformation parameter values representing a sampling of the transformation's parameter space.

The code below is agnostic to the specific transformation and it is up to the user to specify a valid list of transformation parameters (correct number of parameters and correct order). To learn more about the spatial transformations supported by SimpleITK you can explore the Transforms notebook.

In most cases we can easily specify a regular grid in parameter space by specifying ranges of values for each of the parameters. In some cases specifying parameter values may be less intuitive (i.e. versor representation of rotation).

## Utility methods¶

Utilities for sampling a parameter space using a regular grid in a convenient manner (special care for 3D similarity).

In [7]:
def parameter_space_regular_grid_sampling(*transformation_parameters):
'''
Create a list representing a regular sampling of the parameter space.
Args:
*transformation_paramters : two or more numpy ndarrays representing parameter values. The order
of the arrays should match the ordering of the SimpleITK transformation
parameterization (e.g. Similarity2DTransform: scaling, rotation, tx, ty)
Return:
List of lists representing the regular grid sampling.

Examples:
#parameterization for 2D translation transform (tx,ty): [[1.0,1.0], [1.5,1.0], [2.0,1.0]]
>>>> parameter_space_regular_grid_sampling(np.linspace(1.0,2.0,3), np.linspace(1.0,1.0,1))
'''
return [[np.asscalar(p) for p in parameter_values]
for parameter_values in np.nditer(np.meshgrid(*transformation_parameters))]

def similarity3D_parameter_space_regular_sampling(thetaX, thetaY, thetaZ, tx, ty, tz, scale):
'''
Create a list representing a regular sampling of the 3D similarity transformation parameter space. As the
SimpleITK rotation parameterization uses the vector portion of a versor we don't have an
intuitive way of specifying rotations. We therefor use the ZYX Euler angle parametrization and convert to
versor.
Args:
thetaX, thetaY, thetaZ: numpy ndarrays with the Euler angle values to use, in radians.
tx, ty, tz: numpy ndarrays with the translation values to use in mm.
scale: numpy array with the scale values to use.
Return:
List of lists representing the parameter space sampling (vx,vy,vz,tx,ty,tz,s).
'''
return [list(eul2quat(parameter_values[0],parameter_values[1], parameter_values[2])) +
[np.asscalar(p) for p in parameter_values[3:]] for parameter_values in np.nditer(np.meshgrid(thetaX, thetaY, thetaZ, tx, ty, tz, scale))]

def similarity3D_parameter_space_random_sampling(thetaX, thetaY, thetaZ, tx, ty, tz, scale, n):
'''
Create a list representing a random (uniform) sampling of the 3D similarity transformation parameter space. As the
SimpleITK rotation parameterization uses the vector portion of a versor we don't have an
intuitive way of specifying rotations. We therefor use the ZYX Euler angle parametrization and convert to
versor.
Args:
thetaX, thetaY, thetaZ: Ranges of Euler angle values to use, in radians.
tx, ty, tz: Ranges of translation values to use in mm.
scale: Range of scale values to use.
n: Number of samples.
Return:
List of lists representing the parameter space sampling (vx,vy,vz,tx,ty,tz,s).
'''
theta_x_vals = (thetaX[1]-thetaX[0])*np.random.random(n) + thetaX[0]
theta_y_vals = (thetaY[1]-thetaY[0])*np.random.random(n) + thetaY[0]
theta_z_vals = (thetaZ[1]-thetaZ[0])*np.random.random(n) + thetaZ[0]
tx_vals = (tx[1]-tx[0])*np.random.random(n) + tx[0]
ty_vals = (ty[1]-ty[0])*np.random.random(n) + ty[0]
tz_vals = (tz[1]-tz[0])*np.random.random(n) + tz[0]
s_vals = (scale[1]-scale[0])*np.random.random(n) + scale[0]
res = list(zip(theta_x_vals, theta_y_vals, theta_z_vals, tx_vals, ty_vals, tz_vals, s_vals))
return [list(eul2quat(*(p[0:3]))) + list(p[3:7]) for p in res]

def eul2quat(ax, ay, az, atol=1e-8):
'''
Translate between Euler angle (ZYX) order and quaternion representation of a rotation.
Args:
ax: X rotation angle in radians.
ay: Y rotation angle in radians.
az: Z rotation angle in radians.
atol: tolerance used for stable quaternion computation (qs==0 within this tolerance).
Return:
Numpy array with three entries representing the vectorial component of the quaternion.

'''
# Create rotation matrix using ZYX Euler angles and then compute quaternion using entries.
cx = np.cos(ax)
cy = np.cos(ay)
cz = np.cos(az)
sx = np.sin(ax)
sy = np.sin(ay)
sz = np.sin(az)
r=np.zeros((3,3))
r[0,0] = cz*cy
r[0,1] = cz*sy*sx - sz*cx
r[0,2] = cz*sy*cx+sz*sx

r[1,0] = sz*cy
r[1,1] = sz*sy*sx + cz*cx
r[1,2] = sz*sy*cx - cz*sx

r[2,0] = -sy
r[2,1] = cy*sx
r[2,2] = cy*cx

# Compute quaternion:
qs = 0.5*np.sqrt(r[0,0] + r[1,1] + r[2,2] + 1)
qv = np.zeros(3)
# If the scalar component of the quaternion is close to zero, we
# compute the vector part using a numerically stable approach
if np.isclose(qs,0.0,atol):
i= np.argmax([r[0,0], r[1,1], r[2,2]])
j = (i+1)%3
k = (j+1)%3
w = np.sqrt(r[i,i] - r[j,j] - r[k,k] + 1)
qv[i] = 0.5*w
qv[j] = (r[i,j] + r[j,i])/(2*w)
qv[k] = (r[i,k] + r[k,i])/(2*w)
else:
denom = 4*qs
qv[0] = (r[2,1] - r[1,2])/denom;
qv[1] = (r[0,2] - r[2,0])/denom;
qv[2] = (r[1,0] - r[0,1])/denom;
return qv


## Create reference domain¶

All input images will be resampled onto the reference domain.

This domain is defined by two constraints: the number of pixels per dimension and the physical size we want the reference domain to occupy. The former is associated with the computational constraints of deep learning where using a small number of pixels is desired. The later is associated with the SimpleITK concept of an image, it occupies a region in physical space which should be large enough to encompass the object of interest.

In [8]:
dimension = data[0].GetDimension()

# Physical image size corresponds to the largest physical size in the training set, or any other arbitrary size.
reference_physical_size = np.zeros(dimension)
for img in data:
reference_physical_size[:] = [(sz-1)*spc if sz*spc>mx  else mx for sz,spc,mx in zip(img.GetSize(), img.GetSpacing(), reference_physical_size)]

# Create the reference image with a zero origin, identity direction cosine matrix and dimension
reference_origin = np.zeros(dimension)
reference_direction = np.identity(dimension).flatten()

# Select arbitrary number of pixels per dimension, smallest size that yields desired results
# or the required size of a pretrained network (e.g. VGG-16 224x224), transfer learning. This will
# often result in non-isotropic pixel spacing.
reference_size = [128]*dimension
reference_spacing = [ phys_sz/(sz-1) for sz,phys_sz in zip(reference_size, reference_physical_size) ]

# Another possibility is that you want isotropic pixels, then you can specify the image size for one of
# the axes and the others are determined by this choice. Below we choose to set the x axis to 128 and the
# spacing set accordingly.
# Uncomment the following lines to use this strategy.
#reference_size_x = 128
#reference_spacing = [reference_physical_size[0]/(reference_size_x-1)]*dimension
#reference_size = [int(phys_sz/(spc) + 1) for phys_sz,spc in zip(reference_physical_size, reference_spacing)]

reference_image = sitk.Image(reference_size, data[0].GetPixelIDValue())
reference_image.SetOrigin(reference_origin)
reference_image.SetSpacing(reference_spacing)
reference_image.SetDirection(reference_direction)

# Always use the TransformContinuousIndexToPhysicalPoint to compute an indexed point's physical coordinates as
# this takes into account size, spacing and direction cosines. For the vast majority of images the direction
# cosines are the identity matrix, but when this isn't the case simply multiplying the central index by the
# spacing will not yield the correct coordinates resulting in a long debugging session.
reference_center = np.array(reference_image.TransformContinuousIndexToPhysicalPoint(np.array(reference_image.GetSize())/2.0))


## Data generation¶

Once we have a reference domain we can augment the data using any of the SimpleITK global domain transformations. In this notebook we use a similarity transformation (the generate_images function is agnostic to this specific choice).

Note that you also need to create the labels for your augmented images. If these are just classes then your processing is minimal. If you are dealing with segmentation you will also need to transform the segmentation labels so that they match the transformed image. The following function easily accommodates for this, just provide the labeled image as input and use the sitk.sitkNearestNeighbor interpolator so that you do not introduce labels that were not in the original segmentation.

In [9]:
def augment_images_spatial(original_image, reference_image, T0, T_aug, transformation_parameters,
output_prefix, output_suffix,
interpolator = sitk.sitkLinear, default_intensity_value = 0.0):
'''
Generate the resampled images based on the given transformations.
Args:
original_image (SimpleITK image): The image which we will resample and transform.
reference_image (SimpleITK image): The image onto which we will resample.
T0 (SimpleITK transform): Transformation which maps points from the reference image coordinate system
to the original_image coordinate system.
T_aug (SimpleITK transform): Map points from the reference_image coordinate system back onto itself using the
given transformation_parameters. The reason we use this transformation as a parameter
is to allow the user to set its center of rotation to something other than zero.
transformation_parameters (List of lists): parameter values which we use T_aug.SetParameters().
output_prefix (string): output file name prefix (file name: output_prefix_p1_p2_..pn_.output_suffix).
output_suffix (string): output file name suffix (file name: output_prefix_p1_p2_..pn_.output_suffix).
interpolator: One of the SimpleITK interpolators.
default_intensity_value: The value to return if a point is mapped outside the original_image domain.
'''
all_images = [] # Used only for display purposes in this notebook.
for current_parameters in transformation_parameters:
T_aug.SetParameters(current_parameters)
# Augmentation is done in the reference image space, so we first map the points from the reference image space
# back onto itself T_aug (e.g. rotate the reference image) and then we map to the original image space T0.
T_all = sitk.Transform(T0)
aug_image = sitk.Resample(original_image, reference_image, T_all,
interpolator, default_intensity_value)
sitk.WriteImage(aug_image, output_prefix + '_' +
'_'.join(str(param) for param in current_parameters) +'_.' + output_suffix)

all_images.append(aug_image) # Used only for display purposes in this notebook.
return all_images # Used only for display purposes in this notebook.


Before we can use the generate_images function we need to compute the transformation which will map points between the reference image and the current image as shown in the code cell below.

Note that it is very easy to generate large amounts of data using a regular grid sampling in the transformation parameter space (similarity3D_parameter_space_regular_sampling), the calls to np.linspace with $m$ parameters each having $n$ values results in $n^m$ images, so don't forget that these images are also saved to disk. If you run the code below with regular grid sampling for 3D data you will generate 6561 volumes ($3^7$ parameter combinations times 3 volumes).

By default, the cell below uses random uniform sampling in the transformation parameter space (similarity3D_parameter_space_random_sampling). If you want to try regular sampling, uncomment the commented out code.

In [10]:
aug_transform = sitk.Similarity2DTransform() if dimension==2 else sitk.Similarity3DTransform()

all_images = []

for index,img in enumerate(data):
# Transform which maps from the reference_image to the current img with the translation mapping the image
# origins to each other.
transform = sitk.AffineTransform(dimension)
transform.SetMatrix(img.GetDirection())
transform.SetTranslation(np.array(img.GetOrigin()) - reference_origin)
# Modify the transformation to align the centers of the original and reference image instead of their origins.
centering_transform = sitk.TranslationTransform(dimension)
img_center = np.array(img.TransformContinuousIndexToPhysicalPoint(np.array(img.GetSize())/2.0))
centering_transform.SetOffset(np.array(transform.GetInverse().TransformPoint(img_center) - reference_center))
centered_transform = sitk.Transform(transform)

# Set the augmenting transform's center so that rotation is around the image center.
aug_transform.SetCenter(reference_center)

if dimension == 2:
# The parameters are scale (+-10%), rotation angle (+-10 degrees), x translation, y translation
transformation_parameters_list = parameter_space_regular_grid_sampling(np.linspace(0.9,1.1,3),
np.linspace(-np.pi/18.0,np.pi/18.0,3),
np.linspace(-10,10,3),
np.linspace(-10,10,3))
else:
transformation_parameters_list = similarity3D_parameter_space_random_sampling(thetaX=(-np.pi/18.0,np.pi/18.0),
thetaY=(-np.pi/18.0,np.pi/18.0),
thetaZ=(-np.pi/18.0,np.pi/18.0),
tx=(-10.0, 10.0),
ty=(-10.0, 10.0),
tz=(-10.0, 10.0),
scale=(0.9,1.1),
n=10)
#         transformation_parameters_list = similarity3D_parameter_space_regular_sampling(np.linspace(-np.pi/18.0,np.pi/18.0,3),
#                                                                                        np.linspace(-np.pi/18.0,np.pi/18.0,3),
#                                                                                        np.linspace(-np.pi/18.0,np.pi/18.0,3),
#                                                                                        np.linspace(-10,10,3),
#                                                                                        np.linspace(-10,10,3),
#                                                                                        np.linspace(-10,10,3),
#                                                                                        np.linspace(0.9,1.1,3))

generated_images = augment_images_spatial(img, reference_image, centered_transform,
aug_transform, transformation_parameters_list,
os.path.join(OUTPUT_DIR, 'spatial_aug'+str(index)), 'mha')

if dimension==2: # in 2D we join all of the images into a 3D volume which we use for display.
all_images.append(sitk.JoinSeries(generated_images))
# If working in 2D, display the resulting set of images.
if dimension==2:
gui.MultiImageDisplay(image_list=all_images, shared_slider=True, figure_size=(6,2))

/Users/yanivz/toolkits/anaconda3/envs/sitkMaster3.7/lib/python3.7/site-packages/ipykernel_launcher.py:15: DeprecationWarning: np.asscalar(a) is deprecated since NumPy v1.16, use a.item() instead
from ipykernel import kernelapp as app