FE-UNet: Frequency Domain Enhanced U-Net with Segment Anything Capability for Versatile Image Segmentation

Abstract: Image segmentation is a critical task in visual understanding. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are predisposed to capture high-frequency features in images, while Transformers exhibit a contrasting focus on low-frequency features. In this paper, we experimentally quantify the contrast sensitivity function of CNNs and compare it with that of the human visual system, informed by the seminal experiments of Mannos and Sakrison. Leveraging these insights, we propose the Wavelet-Guided Spectral Pooling Module (WSPM) to enhance and balance image features across the frequency domain. To further emulate the human visual system, we introduce the Frequency Domain Enhanced Receptive Field Block (FE-RFB), which integrates WSPM to extract enriched features from the frequency domain. Building on these innovations, we develop FE-UNet, a model that utilizes SAM2 as its backbone and incorporates Hiera-Large as a pre-trained block, designed to enhance generalization capabilities while ensuring high segmentation accuracy. Experimental results demonstrate that FE-UNet achieves state-of-the-art performance in diverse tasks, including marine animal and polyp segmentation, underscoring its versatility and effectiveness.