name: segmentation-labels
description: "Use ANTsPy segmentation and label workflows for Atropos, k-means,
Otsu, priors, joint label fusion, label statistics, overlap, geometry,
matrices, centroids, points, and multi-label morphology."
disable-model-invocation: true
metadata:
disco-role: operating
license: Apache 2.0
ANTsPy Segmentation and Labels
Use this sub-skill when a task asks for ANTsPy segmentation, label images, connected components, label statistics, overlap/geometry measures, label matrices, centroid or point-image workflows, multi-label morphology, or segmentation-to-mask/registration handoffs.
Start Here
- Import the public package as
import ants; the package distribution is antspyx.
- Check verified signatures and return contracts in API reference.
- Pick a recipe from workflows: k-means, Atropos, Otsu, prior-based segmentation, joint label fusion, label stats/overlap/matrix, point images, or mask alignment validation.
- Use troubleshooting before changing class counts, masks, priors, label dtypes, or physical metadata.
- Run scripts/antspy_segmentation_smoke.py for a tiny deterministic in-memory check in an environment with
antspyx installed.
Core Contracts
ants.atropos(...), ants.kmeans_segmentation(...), and ants.prior_based_segmentation(...) return dictionaries with segmentation and probabilityimages; ants.otsu_segmentation(...) returns only an ANTsImage label image.
ants.joint_label_fusion(...) returns an ANTsImage for intensity-only fusion when no labels are supplied, and a dictionary with segmentation, intensity, probabilityimages, and segmentation_numbers when label_list is supplied.
ants.fuzzy_spatial_cmeans_segmentation(...) and ants.functional_lung_segmentation(...) use snake_case keys segmentation_image and probability_images; lung segmentation also returns processed_image.
- Label-measure helpers generally clone labels to
unsigned int; non-integer or out-of-range labels can fail or silently collapse if not validated first.
- Overlap, statistics, matrices, and label/image interactions assume matching dimension, shape, origin, spacing, and direction; validate with image-core helpers before computing metrics.
- Register intensity images with registration-transforms, apply transforms to labels with nearest-neighbor or label-safe interpolation, then return here for label statistics and overlap.
Route Elsewhere
- Image creation, IO, cloning, metadata repair, dtype conversion,
image_physical_space_consistency, and coordinate transforms: image-core.
- Generic masks, thresholding, binary/grayscale morphology, smoothing, resampling, bias correction, and
iMath: image-ops-math.
- Registration mechanics, transform lists, and label-safe transform application: registration-transforms.
- Plotting label overlays or exporting images for visualization: visualization-interop.
- Learning one-hot segmentation, patch extraction, and augmentation workflows: learning-deeplearn.
References
- API reference: verified public signatures, return keys, label dataframe contracts, dtype rules, and expensive-function caveats.
- Workflows: self-contained recipes for segmentation, priors, labels, overlap/statistics, label matrices, centroids, points, and registration/mask interactions.
- Troubleshooting: Atropos probability failures, mask/image mismatch, class ordering, label dtype handling, joint label fusion/KellyKapowski costs, and physical-space consistency before overlap.