Model-based classification of radar images

A Bayesian approach is presented for model-based classification of images with application to synthetic-aperture radar. Posterior probabilities are computed for candidate hypotheses using physical features estimated from sensor data along with features predicted from these hypotheses. The likelihood scoring allows propagation of uncertainty arising in both the sensor data and object models. The Bayesian classification, including the determination of a correspondence between unordered random features, is shown to be tractable, yielding a classification algorithm, a method for estimating error rates, and a tool for evaluating the performance sensitivity. The radar image features used for classification are point locations with an associated vector of physical attributes; the attributed features are adopted from a parametric model of high-frequency radar scattering. With the emergence of wideband sensor technology, these physical features expand interpretation of radar imagery to access the frequency- and aspect-dependent scattering information carried in the image phase     

Efficient classification of ISAR images

In this paper, we propose a method to classify inverse synthetic aperture radar images from different targets. Our approach can provide efficient features for classification by the combined use of a polar mapping procedure and a well-designed classifier. The resulting feature vectors are able to meet the requirements that efficient features should have: invariance with respect to rotation and scale, small dimensionality, as well as highly discriminative information. Typical experimental examples of the proposed method are provided and discussed.     

Bayesian fused classification of medical images

In many applications in computer vision and signal processing, it is necessary to assimilate data from multiple sources. This is a particularly important issue in medical imaging, where information on a patient may be available from a number of different modalities. As a result, there has been much recent research interest in this area. The authors suggest an additional Bayesian method which generates a segmented classification concurrently with improving reconstructions of a set of registered images. A synthetic example is used to demonstrate the subjectives and benefits of this proposed approach. Two medical applications, one fusing computed tomography (CT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) brain scans, and the other magnetic resonance (MR) images at two different resolutions, are considered.     

Fourier classification images in cardiac nuclear medicine

At present, the diagnosis of cardiac left ventricular regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA) in nuclear medicine is aided mainly by phase images and amplitude images, which picture the spatial distribution of the phase and of the amplitude of the first harmonics of pixel time activity curves, respectively. However, they do not utilize other information contained in the original radionuclide images, and they do not offer a direct diagnostic interpretation of the data. The proposed Fourier classification images (FCI) overcome these deficiencies. Their pixel intensities express directly the diagnostic class of RWMA. The FCI pixel intensities are functions of pixel coordinates, Fourier features of pixel time activity curves, and their distribution parameters, and they are not limited by the first harmonics model. The derivation of the pixel classifier includes normalization transformation of coordinates and activities. Fourier analysis of raw image data, and teaching the computer by examples of already diagnosed cases with the help of discriminant analysis. FCI offer direct and robust diagnosis of RWMA, superior to that derived from phase and amplitude images, especially in the detection of mild RWMA.     

Knowledge-based classification of polarimetric SAR images

In preparation for the flight of the Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) on board the Space Shuttle in the spring of 1994, a level-1 automatic classifier was developed on the basis of polarimetric SAR images acquired by the JPL AirSAR system. The classifier uses L- and C-Band polarimetric SAR measurements of the imaged scene to classify individual pixels into one of four categories: tall vegetation (trees), short vegetation, urban, or bare surface, with the last category encompassing water surfaces, bare soil surfaces, and concrete or asphalt-covered surfaces. The classifier design uses knowledge of the nature of radar backscattering from surfaces and volumes to construct appropriate discriminators in a sequential format. The classifier, which was developed using training areas in a test site in Northern Michigan, was tested against independent test areas in the same test site and in another site imaged three months earlier. Among all cases and all categories, the classification accuracy ranged between 91% and 100%     

Detection and classification of edges in color images

Up to now, most of the color edge detection methods are monochromatic-based techniques, which produce, in general, better than when traditional gray-value techniques are applied. In this overview, we focus mainly on vector-valued techniques because it is easy to understand how to apply common edge detection schemes to every color component. Opposed to this, vector-valued techniques are new and different. The second part of the article addresses the topic of edge classification. While edges are often classified into step edges and ramp edges, we address the topic of physical edge classification based on their origin into shadow edges, reflectance edges, orientation edges, occlusion edges, and specular edges. In the rest of this article we discuss various vector-valued techniques for detecting discontinuities in color images. Then operators are presented based on vector order statistics, followed by presentation by examples of a couple of results of color edge detection. We then discuss different approaches to a physical classification of edges by their origin.     

静态图像中的人体行为分类研究

静态图像中人体行为分类的一般方法是先手动标定出行为对象,再单独对行为对象进行特征提取和分析,不仅费时费力还丢失了场景信息。针对此问题提出了结合场景特征与行为对象特征的图像表示方法,充分利用图像的所有信息。此外为了减小量化误差,在特征编码阶段,采用局部约束线性编码(Locality-constrained Linear Coding,LLC)算法,并将其应用在空间金字塔模型的向量量化中。该算法与传统的矢量量化算法和稀疏编码算法相比,能够降低量化误差。最后在Stanford 40 Action数据集上对文中方法进行实验和验证,结果表明,结合场景特征与行为对象特征并使用LLC编码算法能够获得更好的分类效果。     

Fuzzy supervised classification of remote sensing images

A fuzzy supervised classification method in which geographical information is represented as fuzzy sets is described. The algorithm consists of two major steps: the estimate of fuzzy parameters from fuzzy training data, and a fuzzy partition of spectral space. Partial membership of pixels allows component cover classes of mixed pixels to be identified and more accurate statistical parameters to be generated, resulting in a higher classification accuracy. Results of classifying a Landsat MSS image are presented, and their accuracy is analyzed     

BP-ANN在光学相干层析图像分类中的应用

为了研究反向传播人工神经网络(BP-ANN,back-propagation artificial neural network)对光学相干层析(OCT)图像的分类能力以及用不同算法训练的网络之间的性能差异,设计了基于纹理特征分析的BP-ANN图像分类实验系统。针对不同图像集,系统可根据类内和类间分散度的比值自适应地筛选最具区分性的纹理特征组成特征向量,再利用以不同算法训练的BP-ANN进行分类。实验表明,BP-ANN在经过快速训练后可以有效分辨不同组织图像,而Levenberg-Mar-quardt(LM)算法则被认为是最为有效的训练算法。以LM算法训练的BP-ANN可以在1 s内以平均8次的迭代计算完成训练,对测试集的分类准确率可以达到93.0%。     

Comparison of different methods of classification in subband codingof images

This paper investigates various classification techniques, applied to subband coding of images, as a way of exploiting the nonstationary nature of image subbands. The advantages of subband classification are characterized in a rate-distortion framework in terms of "classification gain" and overall "subband classification gain." Two algorithms, maximum classification gain and equal mean-normalized standard deviation classification, which allow unequal number of blocks in each class, are presented. The dependence between the classification maps from different subbands is exploited either directly while encoding the classification maps or indirectly by constraining the classification maps. The trade-off between the classification gain and the amount of side information is explored. Coding results for a subband image coder based on classification are presented. The simulation results demonstrate the value of classification in subband coding.     

Linear structures in mammographic images: detection and classification

We describe methods for detecting linear structures in mammograms, and for classifying them into anatomical types (vessels, spicules, ducts, etc). Several different detection methods are compared, using realistic synthetic images and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. There are significant differences (p < 0.001) between the methods, with the best giving an Az value for pixel-level detection of 0.943. We also investigate methods for classifying the detected linear structures into anatomical types, using their cross-sectional profiles, with particular emphasis on recognising the "spicules" and "ducts" associated with some of the more subtle abnormalities. Automatic classification results are compared with expert annotations using ROC analysis, demonstrating useful discrimination between anatomical classes (Az = 0.746). Some of this discrimination relies on simple attributes such as profile width and contrast, but important information is also carried by the shape of the profile (Az = 0.653). The methods presented have potentially wide application in improving the specificity of abnormality detection by exploiting additional anatomical information.     

Subspace-based prototyping and classification of chromosome images.

Chromosomes are essential genomic information carriers. Chromosome classification constitutes an important part of routine clinical and cancer cytogenetics analysis. Cytogeneticists perform visual interpretation of banded chromosome images according to the diagrammatic models of various chromosome types known as the ideograms, which mimic artists' depiction of the chromosomes. In this paper, we present a subspace-based approach for automated prototyping and classification of chromosome images. We show that 1) prototype chromosome images can be quantitatively synthesized from a subspace to objectively represent the chromosome images of a given type or population, and 2) the transformation coefficients (or projected coordinate values of sample chromosomes) in the subspace can be utilized as the extracted feature measurements for classification purposes. We examine in particular the formation of three well-known subspaces, namely the ones derived from principal component analysis (PCA), Fisher's linear discriminant analysis, and the discrete cosine transform (DCT). These subspaces are implemented and evaluated for prototyping two-dimensional (2-D) images and for classification of both 2-D images and one-dimensional profiles of chromosomes. Experimental results show that previously unseen prototype chromosome images of high visual quality can be synthesized using the proposed subspace-based method, and that PCA and the DCT significantly outperform the well-known benchmark technique of weighted density distribution functions in classifying 2-D chromosome images.     

Projection pursuit classification of multiband polarimetric SARland images

Results are presented for an experiment utilizing a pastoral land scene with a variety of eight classes, imaged by the NRL dual band (X and L) polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (NUWSAR) at a spatial resolution of 1.2 m. Projection pursuit (PP) statistical analysis tools were applied to a set of simultaneous L-band and X-band fully polarized images (six independent channels) to demonstrate the utility of land classification at high spatial resolution from a light aircraft using SAR. The statistical confusion matrix was used as a quantitative optimization measure of classification. Samples of eight classes from a portion of the scene were used to define a training set, then PP tools were used for classification. It is clear that L-band and X-band fully polarized data view the classes in a significantly different manner, and each brings independent information to the analysis. These results are not meant to be exhaustive at this time but to demonstrate the utility of applying PP tools to multiband and polarization SAR data and to give an indication of the quality of classification one can achieve with moderately high spatial resolution SAR data using a light plane platform     

Texture features for classification of ultrasonic liver images

The classification of ultrasonic liver images is studied, making use of the spatial gray-level dependence matrices, the Fourier power spectrum, the gray-level difference statistics, and the Laws texture energy measures. Features of these types are used to classify three sets of ultrasonic liver images-normal liver, hepatoma, and cirrhosis (30 samples each). The Bayes classifier and the Hotelling trace criterion are employed to evaluate the performance of these features. From the viewpoint of speed and accuracy of classification, it is found that these features do not perform well enough. Hence, a new texture feature set (multiresolution fractal features) based on multiple resolution imagery and the fractional Brownian motion model is proposed to detect diffuse liver diseases quickly and accurately. Fractal dimensions estimated at various resolutions of the image are gathered to form the feature vector. Texture information contained in the proposed feature vector is discussed. A real-time implementation of the algorithm produces about 90% correct classification for the three sets of ultrasonic liver images.     

Unsupervised classification of cell images using pyramid nodelinking

In this communication we describe a segmentation technique which combines two properties in an iterative and hierarchial matter to correctly segment and classify the given cell images. The technique is applied to digital images taken from microscope slides of cultured rat liver cells, and the goal is to classify these cells into one of three possible classes. The first class cells (I) are morphologically normal and stain the darkest. The second class cells (II) are slightly damaged showing both nuclear and cytoplasmic swelling with resultant lessening of staining affinity. The third class cells (III) are markedly damaged as demonstrated by the presence of cytoplasmic vacuolization, or are completely disintegrated. First class cells are classified by taking advantage of their staining affinity; the original gray level image is segmented into four gray levels. The darkest is then classified as type I. Type III cells are classified by using high business as a characteristic; the standard deviation of the original image is segmented into four business levels. The highest level is classified as type III cell. Assuming only the three cell types are present in any given image, the remaining non-background unclassified pixels are determined to belong to type II cells.     

Scene-oriented hierarchical classification of blurry and noisy images

A system for scene-oriented hierarchical classification of blurry and noisy images is proposed. It attempts to simulate important features of the human visual perception. The underlying approach is based on three strategies: extraction of essential signatures captured from a global context, simulating the global pathway; highlight detection based on local conspicuous features of the reconstructed image, simulating the local pathway; and hierarchical classification of extracted features using probabilistic techniques. The techniques involved in hierarchical classification use input from both the local and global pathways. Visual context is exploited by a combination of Gabor filtering with the principal component analysis. In parallel, a pseudo-restoration process is applied together with an affine invariant approach to improve the accuracy in the detection of local conspicuous features. Subsequently, the local conspicuous features and the global essential signature are combined and clustered by a Monte Carlo approach. Finally, clustered features are fed to a self-organizing tree algorithm to generate the final hierarchical classification results. Selected representative results of a comprehensive experimental evaluation validate the proposed system.     

Topology-preserving tissue classification of magnetic resonance brain images

This paper presents a new framework for multiple object segmentation in medical images that respects the topological properties and relationships of structures as given by a template. The technique, known as topology-preserving, anatomy-driven segmentation (TOADS), combines advantages of statistical tissue classification, topology-preserving fast marching methods, and image registration to enforce object-level relationships with little constraint over the geometry. When applied to the problem of brain segmentation, it directly provides a cortical surface with spherical topology while segmenting the main cerebral structures. Validation on simulated and real images characterises the performance of the algorithm with regard to noise, inhomogeneities, and anatomical variations.     

Detection of spectral signatures in multispectral MR images for classification

This paper presents a new spectral signature detection approach to magnetic resonance (MR) image classification. It is called constrained energy minimization (CEM) method, which is derived from the minimum variance distortionless response in passive sensor array processing. It considers a bank of spectral channels as an array of sensors where each spectral channel represents a sensor and object spectral signature in multispectral MR images are viewed as signals impinging upon the array. The strength of the CEM lies on its ability in detection of spectral signatures of interest without knowing image background. The detected spectral signatures are then used for classification. The CEM makes use of a finite impulse response (FIR) filter to linearly constrain a desired object while minimizing interfering effects caused by other unknown signal sources. Unlike most spatial-based classification techniques, the proposed CEM takes advantage of spectral characteristics to achieve object detection and classification. A series of experiments is conducted and compared with the commonly used c-means method for performance evaluation. The results show that the CEM method is a promising and effective spectral technique for MR image classification.     

点光源照射下彩色图像随机相位编码的实现

为了实现对彩色图像的单随机相位编码,根据随机相位编码原理,提出采用单色点光源照射系统结合波长多路技术,实现了对组成彩色图像的三基色图像进行随机相位编码。理论分析和数值模拟显示,采用单色点光源照射系统,对彩色图像进行随机相位编码是可行的;同时由于系统装置的减少,有效地减少了由于随机相位掩膜所引起的相应光能损失和图像噪声。结果表明,这种方法在追求彩色还原度高的场合具有实用价值。