Graph Cut Segmentation Methods Revisited with a Quantum Algorithm

The design and performance of computer vision algorithms are greatly influenced by the hardware on which they are implemented. CPUs, multi-core CPUs, FPGAs and GPUs have inspired new algorithms and enabled existing ideas to be realized. This is notably the case with GPUs, which has significantly changed the landscape of computer vision research through deep learning. As the end of Moores law approaches, researchers and hardware manufacturers are exploring alternative hardware computing paradigms. Quantum computers are a very promising alternative and offer polynomial or even exponential speed-ups over conventional computing for some problems. This paper presents a novel approach to image segmentation that uses new quantum computing hardware. Segmentation is formulated as a graph cut problem that can be mapped to the quantum approximation optimization algorithm (QAOA). This algorithm can be implemented on current and near-term quantum computers. Encouraging results are presented on artificial and medical imaging data. This represents an important, practical step towards leveraging quantum computers for computer vision.