{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T01:18:45Z","timestamp":1760145525799,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,10]],"date-time":"2024-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1723248000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Over recent decades, natural and artificial colloids, as well as nanoparticles, have been increasingly used in various applications. Consequently, with this rising consumption, surface and subsurface environments are more exposed to these particles. The presence of these particles and the colloid-facilitated transport of microorganisms, the interactions between dissolved contaminants and mobile colloids in porous media, and the fate and transport of colloids through groundwater\u2014one of the primary sources of water supply for human societies\u2014have attracted extensive research. This study investigates the performance of several image processing methods in the field of colloid detection, which is a prerequisite for the subsequent steps in porous media research. We employed four different categories of image processing approaches on microscopy images\u2014segmentation-based methods, background-detection-based methods, filter-based methods, and morphology-based methods\u2014to conduct the detection process of colloids. Eight methods were applied and subsequently analyzed in terms of their drawbacks and advantages to determine the best ones in this domain. Finally, we proposed an ensemble approach that leverages the strengths of the three best methods using a majority vote to detect colloids more accurately. In experiments, Precision, Recall, F-measure, and TCR criteria were considered as evaluation tools. Experimental results demonstrate the high accuracy of image processing methods in recognizing colloids. Among all these methods, morphology-based methods were the most successful, achieving the best detection performance and improving the limited distinguishing features of small colloids. Moreover, our ensemble approach, achieving perfect scores across all evaluation criteria, highlights its superiority compared with other detection methods.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24165180","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,12]],"date-time":"2024-08-12T11:23:46Z","timestamp":1723461826000},"page":"5180","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["A Novel Image Processing Approach for Colloid Detection in Saturated Porous Media"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3903-0421","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Behzad","family":"Mirzaei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Intelligent Data Processing Laboratory (IDPL), Department of Electrical Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman 76169-13439, Iran"}]},{"given":"Hossein","family":"Nezamabadi-pour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Intelligent Data Processing Laboratory (IDPL), Department of Electrical Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman 76169-13439, Iran"}]},{"given":"Amir","family":"Raoof","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-4044-1129","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vahid","family":"Nikpeyman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands"}]},{"given":"Enno","family":"de Vries","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7499-4384","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Reza","family":"Derakhshani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Department of Geology, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman 76169-13439, Iran"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.1080\/10643380091184174","article-title":"Removal of Viruses by Soil Passage: Overview of Modeling, Processes, and Parameters","volume":"30","author":"Schijven","year":"2000","journal-title":"Crit. 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