Objectively measuring signal detectability, contrast, blur and noise in medical images using channelized joint observers

ABSTRACT To improve imaging systems and image processing techniques, objective image quality assessment is essential. Model observers adopting a task-based quality assessment strategy by estimating signal detectability measures, have shown to be quite successful to this end. At the same time, costly and time-consuming human observer experiments can be avoided. However, optimizing images in terms of signal detectability alone, still allows a lot of freedom in terms of the imaging parameters. More specifically, fixing the signal detectability defines a manifold in the imaging parameter space on which different “possible” solutions reside. In this article, we present measures that can be used to distinguish these possible solutions from each other, in terms of image quality factors such as signal blur, noise and signal contrast. Our approach is based on an extended channelized joint observer (CJO) that simultaneously estimates the signal amplitude, scale and detectability. As an application, we use this technique to design k-space trajectories for MRI acquisition. Our technique allows to compare the different spiral trajectories in terms of blur, noise and contrast, even when the signal detectability is estimated to be equal

Adaptive lifting schemes with a global L1 minimization technique for image coding

International audienceMany existing works related to lossy-to-lossless image compression are based on the lifting concept. In this paper, we present a sparse op- timization technique based on recent convex algorithms and applied to the prediction filters of a two-dimensional non separable lifting structure. The idea consists of designing these filters, at each resolution level, by minimizing the sum of the ℓ1-norm of the three detail subbands. Extending this optimization method in order to perform a global minimization over all resolution levels leads to a new opti- mization criterion taking into account linear dependencies between the generated coefficients. Simulations carried out on still images show the benefits which can be drawn from the proposed optimization techniques

Directional multiresolution image representations

Efficient representation of visual information lies at the foundation of many image processing tasks, including compression, filtering, and feature extraction. Efficiency of a representation refers to the ability to capture significant information of an object of interest in a small description. For practical applications, this representation has to be realized by structured transforms and fast algorithms. Recently, it has become evident that commonly used separable transforms (such as wavelets) are not necessarily best suited for images. Thus, there is a strong motivation to search for more powerful schemes that can capture the intrinsic geometrical structure of pictorial information. This thesis focuses on the development of new "true" two-dimensional representations for images. The emphasis is on the discrete framework that can lead to algorithmic implementations. The first method constructs multiresolution, local and directional image expansions by using non-separable filter banks. This discrete transform is developed in connection with the continuous-space curvelet construction in harmonic analysis. As a result, the proposed transform provides an efficient representation for two-dimensional piecewise smooth signals that resemble images. The link between the developed filter banks and the continuous-space constructions is set up in a newly defined directional multiresolution analysis. The second method constructs a new family of block directional and orthonormal transforms based on the ridgelet idea, and thus offers an efficient representation for images that are smooth away from straight edges. Finally, directional multiresolution image representations are employed together with statistical modeling, leading to powerful texture models and successful image retrieval systems

A Panorama on Multiscale Geometric Representations, Intertwining Spatial, Directional and Frequency Selectivity

The richness of natural images makes the quest for optimal representations in image processing and computer vision challenging. The latter observation has not prevented the design of image representations, which trade off between efficiency and complexity, while achieving accurate rendering of smooth regions as well as reproducing faithful contours and textures. The most recent ones, proposed in the past decade, share an hybrid heritage highlighting the multiscale and oriented nature of edges and patterns in images. This paper presents a panorama of the aforementioned literature on decompositions in multiscale, multi-orientation bases or dictionaries. They typically exhibit redundancy to improve sparsity in the transformed domain and sometimes its invariance with respect to simple geometric deformations (translation, rotation). Oriented multiscale dictionaries extend traditional wavelet processing and may offer rotation invariance. Highly redundant dictionaries require specific algorithms to simplify the search for an efficient (sparse) representation. We also discuss the extension of multiscale geometric decompositions to non-Euclidean domains such as the sphere or arbitrary meshed surfaces. The etymology of panorama suggests an overview, based on a choice of partially overlapping "pictures". We hope that this paper will contribute to the appreciation and apprehension of a stream of current research directions in image understanding.Comment: 65 pages, 33 figures, 303 reference

Development of Multirate Filter – Based Region Features for Iris Identification

The emergence of biometric system is seen as the next-generation technological solution in strengthening the social and national security. The evolution of biometrics has shifted the paradigm of authentication from classical token and knowledge-based systems to physiological and behavioral trait based systems. R & D on iris biometrics, in last one decade, has established it as one of the most promising traits. Even though, iris biometric takes high resolution near-infrared (NIR) images as input, its authentication accuracy is very commendable. Its performance is often influenced by the presence of noise, database size, and feature representation. This thesis focuses on the use of multi resolution analysis (MRA) in developing suitable features for non-ideal iris images. Our investigation starts with the iris feature extraction technique using Cohen −Daubechies − Feauveau 9/7 (CDF 9/7) filter bank. In this work, a technique has been proposed to deal with issues like segmentation failure and occlusion. The experimental studies deal with the superiority of CDF 9/7 filter bank over the frequency based techniques. Since there is scope for improving the frequency selectivity of CDF 9/7 filter bank, a tunable filter bank is proposed to extract region based features from non-cooperative iris images. The proposed method is based on half band polynomial of 14th order. Since, regularity and frequency selectivity are in inverse relationship with each other, filter coefficients are derived by not imposing maximum number of zeros. Also, the half band polynomial is presented in x-domain, so as to apply semidefinite programming, which results in optimization of coefficients of analysis/synthesis filter. The next contribution in this thesis deals with the development of another powerful MRA known as triplet half band filter bank (THFB). The advantage of THFB is the flexibility in choosing the frequency response that allows one to overcome the magnitude constraints. The proposed filter bank has improved frequency selectivity along with other desired properties, which is then used for iris feature extraction. The last contribution of the thesis describes a wavelet cepstral feature derived from CDF 9/7 filter bank to characterize iris texture. Wavelet cepstrum feature helps in reducing the dimensionality of the detail coefficients; hence, a compact feature presentation is possible with improved accuracy against CDF 9/7. The efficacy of the features suggested are validated for iris recognition on three publicly available databases namely, CASIAv3, UBIRISv1, and IITD. The features are compared with other transform domain features like FFT, Gabor filter and a comprehensive evaluation is done for all suggested features as well. It has been observed that the suggested features show superior performance with respect to accuracy. Among all suggested features, THFB has shown best performance

Signal Processing Methods for Music Synchronization, Audio Matching, and Source Separation

The field of music information retrieval (MIR) aims at developing techniques and tools for organizing, understanding, and searching multimodal information in large music collections in a robust, efficient and intelligent manner. In this context, this thesis presents novel, content-based methods for music synchronization, audio matching, and source separation. In general, music synchronization denotes a procedure which, for a given position in one representation of a piece of music, determines the corresponding position within another representation. Here, the thesis presents three complementary synchronization approaches, which improve upon previous methods in terms of robustness, reliability, and accuracy. The first approach employs a late-fusion strategy based on multiple, conceptually different alignment techniques to identify those music passages that allow for reliable alignment results. The second approach is based on the idea of employing musical structure analysis methods in the context of synchronization to derive reliable synchronization results even in the presence of structural differences between the versions to be aligned. Finally, the third approach employs several complementary strategies for increasing the accuracy and time resolution of synchronization results. Given a short query audio clip, the goal of audio matching is to automatically retrieve all musically similar excerpts in different versions and arrangements of the same underlying piece of music. In this context, chroma-based audio features are a well-established tool as they possess a high degree of invariance to variations in timbre. This thesis describes a novel procedure for making chroma features even more robust to changes in timbre while keeping their discriminative power. Here, the idea is to identify and discard timbre-related information using techniques inspired by the well-known MFCC features, which are usually employed in speech processing. Given a monaural music recording, the goal of source separation is to extract musically meaningful sound sources corresponding, for example, to a melody, an instrument, or a drum track from the recording. To facilitate this complex task, one can exploit additional information provided by a musical score. Based on this idea, this thesis presents two novel, conceptually different approaches to source separation. Using score information provided by a given MIDI file, the first approach employs a parametric model to describe a given audio recording of a piece of music. The resulting model is then used to extract sound sources as specified by the score. As a computationally less demanding and easier to implement alternative, the second approach employs the additional score information to guide a decomposition based on non-negative matrix factorization (NMF)

A generalized, parametric PR-QMF/wavelet transform design approach for multiresolution signal decomposition

This dissertation aims to emphasize the interrelations and the linkages of the theories of discrete-time filter banks and wavelet transforms. It is shown that the Binomial-QMF banks are identical to the interscale coefficients or filters of the compactly supported orthonormal wavelet transform bases proposed by Daubechies. A generalized, parametric, smooth 2-band PR-QMF design approach based on Bernstein polynomial approximation is developed. It is found that the most regular compact support orthonormal wavelet filters, coiflet filters are only the special cases of the proposed filter bank design technique. A new objective performance measure called Non-aliasing Energy Ratio(NER) is developed. Its merits are proven with the comparative performance studies of the well known orthonormal signal decomposition techniques. This dissertation also addresses the optimal 2-band PR-QMF design problem. The variables of practical significance in image processing and coding are included in the optimization problem. The upper performance bounds of 2-band PR-QMF and their corresponding filter coefficients are derived. It is objectively shown that there are superior filter bank solutions available over the standard block transform, DCT. It is expected that the theoretical contributions of this dissertation will find its applications particularly in Visual Signal Processing and Coding