Alternative c-means clustering algorithms

In this paper we propose a new metric to replace the Euclidean norm in c-means clustering procedures. On the basis of the robust statistic and the influence function, we claim that the proposed new metric is more robust than the Euclidean norm. We then create two new clustering methods called the alternative hard c-means (AHCM) and alternative fuzzy c-means (AFCM) clustering algorithms. These alternative types of c-means clustering have more robustness than c-means clustering, Numerical results show that AHCM has better performance than HCM and AFCM is better than FCM. We recommend AFCM for use in cluster analysis. Recently, this AFCM algorithm has successfully been used in segmenting the magnetic resonance image of Ophthalmology to differentiate the abnormal tissues from the normal tissues. (C), 2002 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.