RootPainter: Deep Learning Segmentation of Biological Images with Corrective Annotation

Abstract

We present RootPainter, a GUI-based software tool for the rapid training of deep neural networks for use in biological image analysis. RootPainter facilitates both fully-automatic and semi-automatic image segmentation. We investigate the effectiveness of RootPainter using three plant image datasets, evaluating its potential for root length extraction from chicory roots in soil, biopore counting and root nodule counting from scanned roots. We also use RootPainter to compare dense annotations to corrective ones which are added during the training based on the weaknesses of the current model.