A novel disparity-assisted block matching-based approach for super-resolution of light field images

Currently, available plenoptic imaging technology has limited resolution. That makes it challenging to use this technology in applications, where sharpness is essential, such as film industry. Previous attempts aimed at enhancing the spatial resolution of plenoptic light field (LF) images were based on block and patch matching inherited from classical image super-resolution, where multiple views were considered as separate frames. By contrast to these approaches, a novel super-resolution technique is proposed in this paper with a focus on exploiting estimated disparity information to reduce the matching area in the super-resolution process. We estimate the disparity information from the interpolated LR view point images (VPs). We denote our method as light field block matching super-resolution. We additionally combine our novel super-resolution method with directionally adaptive image interpolation from [1] to preserve sharpness of the high-resolution images. We prove a steady gain in the PSNR and SSIM quality of the super-resolved images for the resolution enhancement factor 8x8 as compared to the recent approaches and also to our previous work [2]

A multi-camera approach to image-based rendering and 3-D/Multiview display of ancient chinese artifacts

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Visual Perception and Cognition in Image-Guided Intervention

Surgical image visualization and interaction systems can dramatically affect the efficacy and efficiency of surgical training, planning, and interventions. This is even more profound in the case of minimally-invasive surgery where restricted access to the operative field in conjunction with limited field of view necessitate a visualization medium to provide patient-specific information at any given moment. Unfortunately, little research has been devoted to studying human factors associated with medical image displays and the need for a robust, intuitive visualization and interaction interfaces has remained largely unfulfilled to this day. Failure to engineer efficient medical solutions and design intuitive visualization interfaces is argued to be one of the major barriers to the meaningful transfer of innovative technology to the operating room. This thesis was, therefore, motivated by the need to study various cognitive and perceptual aspects of human factors in surgical image visualization systems, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of medical interfaces, and ultimately to improve patient outcomes. To this end, we chose four different minimally-invasive interventions in the realm of surgical training, planning, training for planning, and navigation: The first chapter involves the use of stereoendoscopes to reduce morbidity in endoscopic third ventriculostomy. The results of this study suggest that, compared with conventional endoscopes, the detection of the basilar artery on the surface of the third ventricle can be facilitated with the use of stereoendoscopes, increasing the safety of targeting in third ventriculostomy procedures. In the second chapter, a contour enhancement technique is described to improve preoperative planning of arteriovenous malformation interventions. The proposed method, particularly when combined with stereopsis, is shown to increase the speed and accuracy of understanding the spatial relationship between vascular structures. In the third chapter, an augmented-reality system is proposed to facilitate the training of planning brain tumour resection. The results of our user study indicate that the proposed system improves subjects\u27 performance, particularly novices\u27, in formulating the optimal point of entry and surgical path independent of the sensorimotor tasks performed. In the last chapter, the role of fully-immersive simulation environments on the surgeons\u27 non-technical skills to perform vertebroplasty procedure is investigated. Our results suggest that while training surgeons may increase their technical skills, the introduction of crisis scenarios significantly disturbs the performance, emphasizing the need of realistic simulation environments as part of training curriculum