Priors with Coupled First and Second Order Differences for Manifold-Valued Image Processing

We generalize discrete variational models involving the infimal convolution (IC) of first and second order differences and the total generalized variation (TGV) to manifold-valued images. We propose both extrinsic and intrinsic approaches. The extrinsic models are based on embedding the manifold into an Euclidean space of higher dimension with manifold constraints. An alternating direction methods of multipliers can be employed for finding the minimizers. However, the components within the extrinsic IC or TGV decompositions live in the embedding space which makes their interpretation difficult. Therefore, we investigate two intrinsic approaches: for Lie groups, we employ the group action within the models; for more general manifolds, our IC model is based on recently developed absolute second order differences on manifolds, while our TGV approach uses an approximation of the parallel transport by the pole ladder. For computing the minimizers of the intrinsic models, we apply gradient descent algorithms. Numerical examples demonstrate that our approaches work well for certain manifolds.     

First and Second Order SMO Algorithms for LS-SVM Classifiers

Least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) classifiers have been traditionally trained with conjugate gradient algorithms. In this work, completing the study by Keerthi et al., we explore the applicability of the SMO algorithm for solving the LS-SVM problem, by comparing First Order and Second Order working set selections concentrating on the RBF kernel, which is the most usual choice in practice. It turns out that, considering all the range of possible values of the hyperparameters, Second Order working set selection is altogether more convenient than First Order. In any case, whichever the selection scheme is, the number of kernel operations performed by SMO appears to scale quadratically with the number of patterns. Moreover, asymptotic convergence to the optimum is proved and the rate of convergence is shown to be linear for both selections.     

基于变分的图像增强算法和伪彩色映射

提出了一种新的基于变分方法的灰度图像增强算法。将灰度图像的对比度场进行线性放大作为目标图像的对比度场,在图像显示和打印的动态范围约束条件下。利用变分方法求解出增强的图像,使其具有最接近于目标对比度场的对比度。若把目标对比度进一步作动态范围压缩后,将此方法应用到彩色图像的亮度分量中去(色度和饱和度不变)。并根据人类视觉感知的统计特性将结果图进行伪彩色映射,得到视觉效果更佳的彩色图像。这种增强方法不需要人为选定待增强图像区域。实验结果表明了该图像增强方法的有效性。当图像中含有极其微弱的有用的局部对比度信息时,效果尤佳。     

A Study of a Convex Variational Diffusion Approach for Image Segmentation and Feature Extraction

We analyze a variational approach to image segmentation that is based on a strictly convex non-quadratic cost functional. The smoothness term combines a standard first-order measure for image regions with a total-variation based measure for signal transitions. Accordingly, the costs associated with discontinuities are given by the length of level lines and local image contrast. For real images, this provides a reasonable approximation of the variational model of Mumford and Shah that has been suggested as a generic approach to image segmentation.The global properties of the convex variational model are favorable to applications: Uniqueness of the solution, continuous dependence of the solution on both data and parameters, consistent and efficient numerical approximation of the solution with the FEM-method.Various global and local properties of the convex variational model are analyzed and illustrated with numerical examples. Apart from the favorable global properties, the approach is shown to provide a sound mathematical model of a useful locally adaptive smoothing process. A comparison is carried out with results of a region-growing technique related to the Mumford-Shah model.     

A Variational Approach for the Segmentation of the Left Ventricle in Cardiac Image Analysis

In this paper we propose a level set method to segment MR cardiac images. Our approach is based on a coupled propagation of two cardiac contours and integrates visual information with anatomical constraints. The visual information is expressed through a gradient vector flow-based boundary component and a region term that aims at best separating the cardiac contours/regions according to their global intensity properties. In order to deal with misleading visual support, an anatomical constraint is considered that couples the propagation of the cardiac contours according to their relative distance. The resulting motion equations are implemented using a level set approach and a fast and stable numerical approximation scheme, the Additive Operator Splitting. Encouraging experimental results are provided using real data.     

一种融合纹理的三维图像重建快速实现方法

为了得到完整的三维模型,介绍了一种融合纹理的三维图像重建快速实现方法。通过对不同视角的深度图像的手动粗配准、ICP算法精配准以及全局配准得到这些深度图像的旋转平移矩阵。通过vrippack,三维重建出完整的三维图像,用TextureStitcher对得到的三维图像进行纹理映射,从而实现融合纹理的三维图像的快速重建。文中在论述配准算法主要思想和实现步骤的同时,也用实验验证了方法的可行性与通用性。     

A Variational Framework for Exemplar-Based Image Inpainting

Non-local methods for image denoising and inpainting have gained considerable attention in recent years. This is in part due to their superior performance in textured images, a known weakness of purely local methods. Local methods on the other hand have demonstrated to be very appropriate for the recovering of geometric structures such as image edges. The synthesis of both types of methods is a trend in current research. Variational analysis in particular is an appropriate tool for a unified treatment of local and non-local methods. In this work we propose a general variational framework for non-local image inpainting, from which important and representative previous inpainting schemes can be derived, in addition to leading to novel ones. We explicitly study some of these, relating them to previous work and showing results on synthetic and real images.     

A Scalable Approach for Variational Data Assimilation

Data assimilation (DA) is a methodology for combining mathematical models simulating complex systems (the background knowledge) and measurements (the reality or observational data) in order to improve the estimate of the system state (the forecast). The DA is an inverse and ill posed problem usually used to handle a huge amount of data, so, it is a large and computationally expensive problem. Here we focus on scalable methods that makes DA applications feasible for a huge number of background data and observations. We present a scalable algorithm for solving variational DA which is highly parallel. We provide a mathematical formalization of this approach and we also study the performance of the resulted algorithm.     

小波构造变正则参数变分模型在带噪图像恢复中的应用

在利用正则化方法构造变分模型进行图像去噪时,其正则参数往往选择为恒定值．文中利用小波分解的层次性和带噪图像中噪声所具有的时频特点,构造出变正则参数的变分模型．在不同的小波分解层,通过选择不同的正则参数从而达到自适应去噪的目的．     

A Fourier Domain Framework for Variational Image Registration

Vector fields arise in many problems of computer vision, particularly in non-rigid registration. In this paper, we develop coupled partial differential equations (PDEs) to estimate vector fields that define the deformation between objects, and the contour or surface that defines the segmentation of the objects as well. We also explore the utility of inequality constraints applied to variational problems in vision such as estimation of deformation fields in non-rigid registration and tracking. To solve inequality constrained vector field estimation problems, we apply tools from the Kuhn-Tucker theorem in optimization theory. Our technique differs from recently popular joint segmentation and registration algorithms, particularly in its coupled set of PDEs derived from the same set of energy terms for registration and segmentation. We present both the theory and results that demonstrate our approach.

结合各向异性中值扩散的PET图像重建算法

为了有效提高正电子发射断层成像图像的质量,通过把各向异性中值扩散滤波器融合到中值根先验算法中,提出了一种新的基于Bayesian理论的图像重建算法。新算法的每次迭代过程都可以分为两步:首先用各向异性中值扩散滤波器抑制重建图像中的噪声;然后用中值根先验算法重建图像。仿真实验结果表明,在正电子发射断层成像中,新算法不仅能有效地抑制噪声,还能精确地保护图像的边缘。此外,与其他类似算法相比,新算法吸收了各向异性中值扩散滤波器的优点,在迭代过程中对梯度阈值和扩散次数不敏感,易于实现,实用性强。     

A New Diffusion-Based Variational Model for Image Denoising and Segmentation

In this paper we propose a new variational model for image denoising and segmentation of both gray and color images. This method is inspired by the complex Ginzburg–Landau model and the weighted bounded variation model. Compared with active contour methods, our new algorithm can detect non-closed edges as well as quadruple junctions, and the initialization is completely automatic. The existence of the minimizer for our energy functional is proved. Numerical results show the effectiveness of our proposed model in image denoising and segmentation. Fang Li received the MSc degree in Mathematics from the South West China Normal University in 2004 and from then on she works in the South West University. Meanwhile, she studies mathematics at the East China Normal University as a doctoral student. Her research interests include anisotropic diffusion filtering, the variational methods and PDEs in image processing. Chaomin Shen received the MSc degree in Mathematics from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1998. He worked in the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP), NUS as an associate scientist during 1998 to 2004. Currently he is a lecturer in Joint Laboratory for Imaging Science & Technology and Department of Computer Science, East China Normal University. His research interests include remote sensing applications and variational methods in image processing. Ling Pi received her MSc degree from the Department of Mathematics, East China Normal University in 2003. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Applied Mathematics, Shanghai Jiaotong University. Her work involves the application of geometric and analytic methods to problems in image processing.     

A Restricted Second Order Logic for Finite Structures

We introduce a restricted version of second order logic SO^ωin which the second order quantifiers range over relations that are closed under the equivalence relation ≡^kofkvariable equivalence, for somek. This restricted second order logic is an effective fragment of the infinitary logicL^ω_∞ω, but it differs from other such fragments in that it is not based on a fixed point logic. We explore the relationship of SO^ωwith fixed point logics, showing that its inclusion relations with these logics are equivalent to problems in complexity theory. We also look at the expressibility of NP-complete problems in this logic.     

基于图割和改进的变分水平集的图像分割方法

文章在图割理论的基础上,引入了一种新的方法将图割理论和改进的变分水平集模型结合起来,先利用图割理论对目标形成一个初始轮廓,并在得到的轮廓线上定义能量函数,通过能量函数的最小化,从而使得到的轮廓线最终收敛到目标边界,这样在保证分割精度的同时大大简化了计算量.     

A Variational Model for P+XS Image Fusion

We propose an algorithm to increase the resolution of multispectral satellite images knowing the panchromatic image at high resolution and the spectral channels at lower resolution. Our algorithm is based on the assumption that, to a large extent, the geometry of the spectral channels is contained in the topographic map of its panchromatic image. This assumption, together with the relation of the panchromatic image to the spectral channels, and the expression of the low-resolution pixel in terms of the high-resolution pixels given by some convolution kernel followed by subsampling, constitute the elements for constructing an energy functional (with several variants) whose minima will give the reconstructed spectral images at higher resolution. We discuss the validity of the above approach and describe our numerical procedure. Finally, some experiments on a set of multispectral satellite images are displayed.     

Variational Methods for Multimodal Image Matching

Matching images of different modalities can be achieved by the maximization of suitable statistical similarity measures within a given class of geometric transformations. Handling complex, nonrigid deformations in this context turns out to be particularly difficult and has attracted much attention in the last few years. The thrust of this paper is that many of the existing methods for nonrigid monomodal registration that use simple criteria for comparing the intensities (e.g. SSD) can be extended to the multimodal case where more complex intensity similarity measures are necessary. To this end, we perform a formal computation of the variational gradient of a hierarchy of statistical similarity measures, and use the results to generalize a recently proposed and very effective optical flow algorithm (L. Alvarez, J. Weickert, and J. Sánchez, 2000, Technical Report, and IJCV 39(1):41–56) to the case of multimodal image registrationOur method readily extends to the case of locally computed similarity measures, thus providing the flexibility to cope with spatial non-stationarities in the way the intensities in the two images are related. The well posedness of the resulting equations is proved in a complementary work (O.D. Faugeras and G. Hermosillo, 2001, Technical Report 4235, INRIA) using well established techniques in functional analysis. We briefly describe our numerical implementation of these equations and show results on real and synthetic data.