新的Cauchy-Schwarz距离函数与多模态医学图像配准

信息论测度,特别是Shannon互信息是多模态图像配准的一种重要方法,但除了互信息之外,仍然存在其它的函数来实现这一任务。对互信息、Kullback-Leibler距离和Shannon不等式之间相互关系作了分析,根据这些关系和不等式理论,提出了新的Cauchy-Schwarz距离,并将这一距离测度用于多模态医学图像的配准处理。从计算速度、噪声容忍性、测度函数图形的特点和图像窗口大小影响等几个方面,通过MR和PET医学图像的实验分析,对新的Cauchy-Schwarz距离测度和典型的Shannon信息论测度进行了分析比较。实验结果表明,新的Cauchy-Schwarz距离测度函数同样可以用于多模态图像配准,而且有着更强的噪声容忍性和更为节省的计算量。     

基于算术-几何均值距离的多模态图像配准

根据图像灰度联合概率分布函数与图像相似程度之间的关系,提出了一种基于算术 几何均值距离的多模态图像配准新测度。与基于信息论的测度不同,新测度不再要求概率分布必须满足连续性的要求。实验结果表明,所提出的新测度比基于信息论的测度具有更强的噪声鲁棒性和计算量更小。     

Window-modulated compounding Nakagami imaging for ultrasound tissue characterization

Ultrasound Nakagami parametric imaging is a useful tool for tissue characterization. Previous literature has suggested using a square with side lengths corresponding to 3 times the transducer pulse length as the minimum window for constructing the Nakagami image. This criterion does not produce sufficiently smooth images for the Nakagami image to characterize homogeneous tissues. To improve image smoothness, we proposed window-modulated compounding (WMC) Nakagami imaging based on summing and averaging the Nakagami images formed using sliding windows with varying window side lengths from 1 to N times the transducer pulse length in 1 pulse length step. Simulations (the number densities of scatterers: 2–16 scatterers/mm²) and experiments on fully developed speckle phantoms (the scatterer diameters: 20–106 μm) were conducted to suggest an appropriate number of frames N and to evaluate the image smoothness and resolution by analyzing the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the parameter distribution and the widths of the image autocorrelation function (ACF), respectively. In vivo ultrasound measurements on rat livers without and with cirrhosis were performed to validate the practical performance of the WMC Nakagami image in tissue characterization. The simulation results showed that using a range of N from 7 to 10 as the number of frames for image compounding reduces the estimation error to less than 5%. Based on this criterion, the Nakagami parameter obtained from the WMC Nakagami image increased from 0.45 to 0.95 after increasing the number densities of scatterers from 2 to 16 scatterers/mm². The FWHM of the parameter distribution (bins = 40) was 13.5 ± 1.4 for the Nakagami image and 9.1 ± 1.43 for the WMC Nakagami image, respectively (p-value < .05). The widths of the ACF for the Nakagami and WMC Nakagami images were 454 ± 5.36 and 458 ± 4.33, respectively (p-value > .05). In the phantom experiments, we also found that the FWHM of the parameter distribution for the WMC Nakagami image was smaller than that of the conventional Nakagami image (p-value < .05), and there was no significant difference of the ACF width between the Nakagami and WMC Nakagami images (p-value > .05). In the animal experiments, the Nakagami parameters obtained from the WMC Nakagami image for normal and cirrhotic rat livers were 0.62 ± 0.08 and 0.92 ± 0.07, respectively (p-value < .05). The results demonstrated that the WMC technique significantly improved the image smoothness of Nakagami imaging without resolution degradation, giving Nakagami model-based imaging the ability to visualize scatterer properties with enhanced image quality.     

扫频光学相干层析视网膜图像配准去噪算法

多帧叠加平均处理是去除扫频光学相干层析系统散斑噪声、获得较为清晰结构信息的有效方法,但眼睛的震颤、漂移、微眼跳等生理特性和系统光路特性会使图像之间存在错位,导致叠加效果不佳、结构稳定性差,为此本文提出一种基于灰度分布信息和目标几何信息相结合的配准算法。该方法根据图像平均灰度分布提取包含目标信息的感兴趣区域,通过相位相关算法和基于分段拟合的灰度投影算法的双重作用校正图像的平移变换;通过拟合视网膜上边界作为特征点迭代确定最佳旋转参数,并再次重新估计平移参数,实现图像的刚性配准;最后通过轴向扫描一对一映射法以能量函数为约束条件实现图像的非刚性配准。对活体兔眼进行实验,结果表明,本文算法配准后的叠加图像边界清晰,结构信息增强,信噪比和对比度平均有效提高一倍多。本算法适用于强噪声视网膜B-Scans图像的配准,能满足多种类型OCT系统的叠加成像需要,具有较高的鲁棒性和图像配准精度。     

Random noise filtering method based on the inter-frame registration

One of the problems to be solved in image processing is how to eliminate image noise effectively. In this work, we brought forward a random noise filtering method based on the inter-frame registration. Firstly, we calculated the relative displacement of the adjacent frames by a registration algorithm. Then we divided the image into the overlapping area and the non-overlapping area according to the relative displacement. Finally, we do noise reduction processing for these two areas respectively. The experiments results indicate that the proposed method can reduce noise in both spatial and time domain of video images. The main advantage is that it cannot only remove noise, but also effectively protect the image edge and detail information. Besides, it not only maintains the de-noising effect of traditional inter-frame algorithm, but also is suitable for moving targets. It has better real-time performance and wider application range.     

Sharpening enhancement of ultrasound images using contourlet transform

The furry regions of ultrasound images are to be enhanced for good quality visual perception. This paper proposes a contourlet transform (CT) based sharpening technique (ST) for contrast enhancement in ultrasound (US) images. While sharpening, noise emphasize is the drawback of the classical ST methods. The proposed ST is operated on the multiscale, multidirectional CT decomposition of the underlying US image. The new ST not only sharpens the US image but also control the noise effect with tunable parameters. The results are compared with common unsharp masking and recently proposed nonlinear unsharp masking. The parameters like enhancement measure, structural similarity, and blind image quality measure evaluate the improved performances of the proposed technique.     

基于相位一致性和Hough变换的多源图像配准方法

由于红外图像与可见光图像对比度不同,常用基于梯度幅值的特征匹配方法难以正确配准。在分析红外图像与可见光图像成像机制的基础上,提出了一种结合相位一致性边缘检测与Hough变换的多源图像配准新方法。该算法首先采用高通滤波和平台直方图均衡方法对红外图像进行预处理以提高红外图像的对比度,再利用具有图像对比度不变性的相位一致性边缘检测法提取两幅图像的边缘,结合Hough变换选取图像空间中最长的线作为特征,采用改进相位相关法作为相似性度量,在对数极坐标域下计算出两幅图像的几何变形参数。仿真实验结果表明,该方法能够以较高查准率实现红外与可见光图像自动配准,并具有较强的鲁棒性。     

Feasibility of using Nakagami distribution in evaluating the formation of ultrasound-induced thermal lesions

The acoustic posterior shadowing effects of bubbles influence the accuracy for defining the location and range of ablated thermal lesions during focused ultrasound surgery when using ultrasonic monitoring imaging. This paper explored the feasibility of using Nakagami distribution to evaluate the ablated region induced by focused ultrasound exposures at different acoustic power levels in transparent tissue-mimicking phantoms. The mean value of the Nakagami parameter m was about 0.5 in the cavitation region and increased to around 1 in the ablated region. Nakagami images were not subject to significant shadowing effects of bubbles. Ultrasound-induced thermal lesions observed in the photos and Nakagami images were overshadowed by bubbles in the B-mode images. The lesion size predicted in the Nakagami images was smaller than that predicted in the photos due to the sub resolvable effect of Nakagami imaging at the interface. This preliminary study on tissue-mimicking phantom suggested that the Nakagami parameter m may have the potential use in evaluating the formation of ultrasound-induced thermal lesion when the shadowing effect of bubbles is strong while the thermal lesion was small. Further studies in vivo and in vitro will be needed to evaluate the potential application.     

Registration method for infrared images under conditions of fixed-pattern noise

This paper proposes a new registration method for infrared images under conditions of fixed-pattern noise (FPN). Conventional registration techniques are susceptible to FPN and it is therefore very desirable to have a registration algorithm that is tolerant to FPN. For this purpose, we utilize the difference of the cross-power spectrum of two discrete shifted images to suppress the noise power spectrum while the shifts information is well preserved. In particular, we show that the phase of the cross-power spectrum difference is a periodic two-dimensional binary stripe signal with the exact shifts determined to subpixel accuracy by the number of periods of the phase difference along each frequency axis. Robust estimates of shifts can be obtained by transforming its discontinuities to Hough domain. Experimental results show that the proposed method exhibits robust and accurate registration performance even for the noisy images that could not be handled by conventional registration algorithms. We have also incorporated this technique to a registration-based nonuniformity correction (NUC) framework, indicating that our registration technique is able to estimate motion parameters reliably, leading to satisfactory NUC result.     

基于Rician分布的散斑噪声的超声图像模拟算法*

为了衡量各种去噪算法的性能,在干净无噪声的图像上添加接近真实且可控的散斑噪声是非常重要的,提出一种基于Rician分布的不完全发育的斑点噪声的超声图像模拟算法。该算法考虑到了声波区域中包含孤立的强散射体的情况,同时结合了超声成像的扫描过程。以合成图像和肾脏图像为体模进行了模拟实验,并对最终生成的伪超声图像进行了噪声分布统计及拟合检验。实验结果表明该算法生成的伪超声图像在视觉上和理论上都接近真实的超声图像。     

Two-step image registration by artificial immune system and chamfer matching

Image registration is the precondition and foundation in the fusion of multi-source image data. A two-step approach based on artificial immune system and chamfer matching to register images from different types of sensors is presented. In the first step, it extracts the large edges and takes chamfer distance between the input image and the reference image as similarity measure and uses artificial immune network algorithm to speed up the searching of the initial transformation parameters. In the second step, an area-based method is utilized to refine the initial transformation and enhance the registration accuracy. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is a promising method for registration of multi-sensor images.     

去除乘性噪音的主成分分析算法

雷达成像系统的进一步应用依赖于对图像中噪音的有效抑制.在目前现有消除噪音方法的基础上,基于图像的局部相似性,结合主成分分析法,提出一种新的有效去除乘性噪音的滤波算法.乘性噪音经对数变换后可转化为加性噪音处理.分析了对数域中噪音的类型.首先在图像的对数域,通过非局部方法选取局部相似块作为训练样本,利用主成分分析法提取出信号的主要特征.然后基于统计理论中最小均方误差估计法给出了一种适用于图像信息的阈值原则.最后分析了变换过程引起的偏差,由对数域的偏估计得到滤波图像.数值实验验证了新算法的有效性.对比于目前提出的变分方法,新算法处理后的图像有更高的信噪比和更好的视觉效果,且具有一定的实用性.     

3D image registration using a fast noniterative algorithm

This note describes the implementation of a three-dimensional (3D) registration algorithm, generalizing a previous 2D version [Alexander, Int J Imaging Systems and Technology 1999;10:242-57]. The algorithm solves an integrated form of linearized image matching equation over a set of 3D rectangular sub-volumes ('patches') in the image domain. This integrated form avoids numerical instabilities due to differentiation of a noisy image over a lattice, and in addition renders the algorithm robustness to noise. Registration is implemented by first convolving the unregistered images with a set of computationally fast [O(N)] filters, providing four bandpass images for each input image, and integrating the image matching equation over the given patch. Each filter and each patch together provide an independent set of constraints on the displacement field derived by solving a set of linear regression equations. Furthermore, the filters are implemented at a variety of spatial scales, enabling registration parameters at one scale to be used as an input approximation for deriving refined values of those parameters at a finer scale of resolution. This hierarchical procedure is necessary to avoid false matches occurring. Both downsampled and oversampled (undecimating) filtering is implemented. Although the former is computationally fast, it lacks the translation invariance of the latter. Oversampling is required for accurate interpolation that is used in intermediate stages of the algorithm to reconstruct the partially registered from the unregistered image. However, downsampling is useful, and computationally efficient, for preliminary stages of registration when large mismatches are present. The 3D registration algorithm was implemented using a 12-parameter affine model for the displacement: u(x) = Ax + b. Linear interpolation was used throughout. Accuracy and timing results for registering various multislice images, obtained by scanning a melon and human volunteers in various stationary positions, is described. The algorithm may be generalized to more general models of the displacement field, and is also well suited to parallel processing.     

Imaging tumor angiogenesis by use of combined near-infrared diffusive light and ultrasound

A novel two-step reconstruction scheme using a combined near-infrared and ultrasound technique and its utility in imaging distributions of optical absorption and hemoglobin concentration of breast lesions are demonstrated. In the first-step image reconstruction, the entire tissue volume is segmented based on initial coregistered ultrasound measurements into lesion and background regions. Reconstruction is performed by use of a finer grid for lesion region and a coarse grid for the background tissue. As a result, the total number of voxels with unknown absorption can be maintained on the same order of total measurements, and the matrix with unknown total absorption distribution is appropriately scaled for inversion. In the second step, image reconstruction is refined by optimization of lesion parameters measured from ultrasound images. It is shown that detailed distributions of wavelength-dependent absorption and hemoglobin concentration of breast carcinoma can be obtained with the new reconstruction scheme.     

一种从粗到精的红外和可见光卫星图像配准方法

气象卫星所携带的多种传感器可以获得可见光、红外、多光谱等多模态的卫星图像,目前处理这些多模态图像的一个重要手段是数据融合分析方法,而获取不同模态图像空间对应关系的图像配准是数据融合分析的前提和基础。针对多模态气象卫星图像的配准问题,重点研究红外图像和可见光图像的配准问题,并根据红外图像和可见光图像的特点,提出了一种由粗到精的两阶段配准方法。在粗配准阶段,将Fourier-Mellin变换应用于红外和可见光图像的边缘图像上,并通过变换图像在频域的关系实现了图像配准仿射变换参数的快速计算;在精配准阶段,基于图像的Harris算子检测红外图像和可见光图像的特征点,并通过特征点局部区域的互相关函数实现特征点的匹配,最终通过匹配特征点求得精确配准的变换参数。文章提出的由粗到精的图像配准方法,有效结合了Fourier-Mellin变换对边缘图像配准的高效性和Harris算子图像配准的准确性,是红外和可见光图像配准的一种新方法。利用FY-2D气象卫星获取的红外和可见光图像进行了配准实验,实验结果表明所提出的方法具有良好的鲁棒性和较高的配准精度。     

基于旋转照明光的数字全息相干噪声抑制

提出一种数字全息相干噪声抑制方法。首先在照明光方位角给定的前提下,通过在极向平面内连续旋转照明光,实现在多角度照明条件下记录离轴数字全息图。然后对所获得的全息图分别重构,同时利用倾斜相差补偿算法和数字图像自相关配准方法分别补偿再现像的相位倾斜及横向偏移。最后将重构像进行非相干叠加,从而有效抑制再现像的相干噪声。实验结果及相关统计评价数据皆验证了该方法的有效性。     

Study of mutual information multimodality medical image registration based on modified simplex optimization method

Because of a different imaging mechanism and highly complexity of body tissues and structures. Different modality medical images provide non-overlay complementary information. This has very important significance for multimodal medical image registration. Image registration is the first and key part of problem to be solved in the integrations. When the spatial position of two medical images is same, the registration could be achieved. For two CT and PET images, the principal axis method is adopted to achieve the rough registration. The modified simplex algorithm is employed to implement global search using the mutual information as similarity measure. The initial registration parameters are achieved through principal axis Based on the results of test, improved simplex method can adjust reflecting distance. Stepped-up optimization algorithm on the new experimental points through the methods of “reflection”, “enlargement”, “shrinkage” or “global systolic”. A mutual information registration based on modified simplex optimization method is presented in this paper to improve the speed of medical image registration.Results indicate that the proposed registration method prevents the optimizing process from falling into local extremum and improves the convergence speed while keeping the precision. The accurate registration of multimodal image with different resolutions is achieved.     

Wavelet domain non-linear filtering for MRI denoising

Feature-preserved denoising is of great interest in medical image processing. This article presents a wavelet-based bilateral filtering scheme for noise reduction in magnetic resonance images. Undecimated wavelet transform is employed to provide effective representation of the noisy coefficients. Bilateral filtering of the approximate coefficients improves the denoising efficiency and effectively preserves the edge features. Denoising is done in the square magnitude domain, where the noise tends to be signal independent and is additive. The proposed method has been adapted specifically to Rician noise. The visual and the diagnostic quality of the denoised image is well preserved. The quantitative and the qualitative measures used as the quality metrics demonstrate the ability of the proposed method for noise suppression.     

基于神经网络和小波变换的MRI图像去噪方法

过去10年中,小波变换在图像去噪中取得了很大的成功.人们提出了多种适用于小波去噪的阈值方法,而这些方法就是希望能够正确地反映有噪声小波系数与无噪声小波系数之间的映射关系.基于这种想法,我们提出一种在小波域中利用神经网络寻找这种映射关系的图像去噪新方法.我们把该方法应用于不同噪声分布的磁共振图像的去噪,取得了良好的效果.