Abstract: Based on the analysis of Active Shape Model(ASM)and snake algorithm ,which gives us the application conditions and the advantages and disadvantages, A multistage hybrid matching method by integrating statistical model and snake is presented for image segmentation. A statistical model can locate objects rapidly, then a snake by adding an additional terms for the target object is built in order to consider the smoothness of the target contour.The method is well suited for automatic image segmentation. Keywords: Active Shape Model; snake algorithm; image segmentation