Semantic clustering for region-based image retrieval

With the proliferation of applications that demand content-based image retrieval, two merits are becoming more desirable. The first is the reduced search space, and the second is the reduced “semantic gap.” This paper proposes a semantic clustering scheme to achieve these two goals. By performing clustering before image retrieval, the search space can be significantly reduced. The proposed method is different from existing image clustering methods as follows: (1) it is region based, meaning that image sub-regions, instead of the whole image, are grouped into. The semantic similarities among image regions are collected over the user query and feedback history; (2) the clustering scheme is dynamic in the sense that it can evolve to include more new semantic categories. Ideally, one cluster approximates one semantic concept or a small set of closely related semantic concepts, based on which the “semantic gap” in the retrieval is reduced.     

在线磁共振图像重建研究

实现了一种磁共振成像(MRI)系统的在线图像重建方案:研发数据仿真客户端和图像重建服务器端程序,模拟了实时在线磁共振图像重建;利用西门子MRI系统的ICE框架开发了数据通信客户端程序,并基于YAP框架开发了数据重建服务器端程序,实现了外部计算机接入MRI系统流水线的实时在线重建。这种重建方法有利于MRI算法的集成与应用。     

基于RBM-KNN的脑部磁共振图像分类

为加快医学图像分类速度,提高分类精确率,文中采用受限玻尔兹曼机(Restricted Boltzmann Machine,RBM)结合K近邻(K-Nearest Neighbor,KNN)分类器方法。首先构建可视层二值对隐层二值RBM,利用RBM训练得到特征提取器,该特征提取器可同时实现特征降维,然后特征提取器从像素单元直接提取图像特征,最后用KNN将特征分类,并用测试样本检验分类准确性。将文中方法用在脑部磁共振图像数据库分类中,实验结果表明,提出的方法具有良好的分类准确率,且明显高于基于单一统计特征提取的医学图像分类方法。     

基于内容的图像检索

主要围绕基于内容的图像检索的相关技术进行了研究。设计分析了基于内容的图像检索系统的具体结构,研究了结构中各模块的具体内容。并且用Matlab软件工具基本实现了基于内容的图像检索,以手机图像为例,验证了算法的正确性。     

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.     

基于颜色直方图的图像检索技术

讨论了基于颜色直方图的图像检索中颜色空间和直方图距离的选择问题,提出了利用颜色直方图来检索图像的一般框架,建立了基于两种颜色空间(RGB和HSV)和四种直方图距离共八种图像检索算法,并且采用了两种客观评价标准对所建立算法的有效性进行评价。结果证明,在基于颜色直方图的应用中,HSV空间比RGB空间更有效,EMD距离在所有四种距离量度中性能较好,但计算量稍大,与EMD距离相比,虽交集距离性能稍有不足,但所需计算量较小。     

Permutation testing made practical for functional magnetic resonance image analysis

We describe an efficient algorithm for the step-down permutation test, applied to the analysis of functional magnetic resonance images. The algorithm's time bound is nearly linear, making it feasible as an interactive tool. Results of the permutation test algorithm applied to data from a cognitive activation paradigm are compared with those of a standard parametric test corrected for multiple comparisons. The permutation test identifies more weakly activated voxels than the parametric test, always activates a superset of the voxels activated by this parametric method, almost always yields significance levels greater than or equal to those produced by the parametric method, and tends to enlarge activated clusters rather than adding isolated voxels. Our implementation of the permutation test is freely available as part of a widely distributed software package for analysis of functional brain images.     

Determination of intracranial tumor volumes in a rodent brain using magnetic resonance imaging, Evans blue, and histology: a comparative study

The measurement of tumor volumes is a practical and objective method of assessing the efficacy of a therapeutic agent. However, the relative accuracy of different methods of assessing tumor volume has been unclear. Using T1-weighted, gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance Imaging (T1-MRI), Evans Blue infusion and histology we measured intracranial tumor volumes in a rodent brain tumor model (RT2) at days 10, 16 and 18 after implantation of cells in the caudate putamen. There is a good correlation between tumor volumes comparing T1-MRI and Evans Blue (r2 = 0.99), T1-MRI and Histology (r2 = 0.98) and histology and Evans Blue (r2 = 0.93). Each of these methods is reliable in estimating tumor volumes in laboratory animals. There was significant uptake of gadolinium and Evans Blue in the tumor suggesting a wide disruption of the blood-brain barrier.     

Application of autoregressive moving average parametric modeling in magnetic resonance image reconstruction

The modeling of data is an alternative to conventional use of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm in the reconstruction of magnetic resonance (MR) images. The application of the FFT leads to artifacts and resolution loss in the image associated with the effective window on the experimentally-truncated phase encoded MR data. The transient error modeling method treats the MR data as a subset of the transient response of an infinite impulse filter (H(z) = B(z)IA(z)). Thus, the data are approximated by a deterministic autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model. The algorithm for calculating the filter coefficients is described. It is demonstrated that using the filter coefficients to reconstruct the image removes the truncation artifacts and improves the resolution. However, determining the autoregressive (AR) portion of the ARMA filter by algorithms that minimize the forward and backward prediction errors (e.g., Burg) leads to significant image degradation. The moving average (MA) portion is determined by a computationally efficient method of solving a finite difference equation with initial values. Special features of the MR data are incorporated into the transient error model. The sensitivity to noise and the choice of the best model order are discussed. MR images formed using versions of the transient error reconstruction (TERE) method and the conventional FFT algorithm are compared using data from a phantom and a human subject. Finally, the computational requirements of the algorithm are addressed.     

一种分形域基于内容的图像检索方法

基于内容的图像检索是多媒体、网络通信及计算机等应用研究领域的一项关键技术。该文提出了一种在分形压缩域直接进行基于内容的图像检索方法。该方法不需要对查询图像进行分形变换，因此可以提高检索速度，降低检索复杂度。仿真结果表明，使用该文提出的方法，能够有效地进行分形域基于内容的图像检索，比较大幅度地降低了检索时间，优于试验中其他3种方法。     

Three-dimensional segmentation and interpolation of magnetic resonance brain images

The authors propose a method for the 3-D reconstruction of the brain from anisotropic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain data. The method essentially consists in two original algorithms both for segmentation and for interpolation of the MRI data. The segmentation process is performed in three steps. A gray level thresholding of the white and gray matter tissue is performed on the brain MR raw data. A global white matter segmentation is automatically performed with a global 3-D connectivity algorithm which takes into account the anisotropy of the MRI voxel. The gray matter is segmented with a local 3-D connectivity algorithm. Mathematical morphology tools are used to interpolate slices. The whole process gives an isotropic binary representation of both gray and white matter which are available for 3-D surface rendering. The power and practicality of this method have been tested on four brain datasets. The segmentation algorithm favorably compares to a manual one. The interpolation algorithm was compared to the shaped-based method both quantitatively and qualitatively.     

Non-local total bounded variation scheme for multiple-coil magnetic resonance image restoration

In this paper, we design a variational model for restoring multiple-coil magnetic resonance images (MRI) corrupted by non-central Chi distributed noise. The energy functional corresponding to the restoration problem is derived using the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator. Optimizing this functional yields the solution, which corresponds to the restored version of the image. The non-local total bounded variation prior is being used as the regularization term in the functional derived using the MAP estimation process. Further, the split-Bregman iteration scheme is being followed for fast numerical computation of the model. The results are compared with the state of the art MRI restoration models using visual representations and statistical measures.     

基于内容的图像检索技术

目前各行业对图像的使用越来越广泛,如何有效、快速地从大规模图像数据库中检索出需要的图像,是目前一个相当重要而又富有挑战性的研究课题.但传统的图像检索技术是基于文本的检索技术,这种方法虽然简单易行,但存在一些致命的缺点,严重影响了对图像信息的有效使用.为了克服传统方法的缺点,提出了基于内容的图像检索技术,该技术能够全面客观地提取图像内容,能有效地获取所需的视觉信息,能使图像数据库中的信息得到有效的管理.     

基于多目标区域的图像检索

针对传统的基于目标区域的图像检索算法中存在的"语义鸿沟"问题,以及基于全局特征的图像检索算法不能很好地处理多目标检索问题,提出了一种基于多目标区域的图像检索模型,并实现了一款高效的检索算法.首先借助于目标检测算法定位出图像中的目标,然后使用卷积神经网络(CNN)提取各个目标的特征,最后采用新提出的多目标区域相似度测量方法计算其与数据库图像的相似度并返回检索结果.实验表明,所提算法与现有的其他检索算法相比,在多目标图像检索任务上性能更佳.     

Generalized manifold-ranking-based image retrieval.

In this paper, we propose a general transductive learning framework named generalized manifold-ranking-based image retrieval (gMRBIR) for image retrieval. Comparing with an existing transductive learning method named MRBIR [12], our method could work well whether or not the query image is in the database; thus, it is more applicable for real applications. Given a query image, gMRBIR first initializes a pseudo seed vector based on neighborhood relationship and then spread its scores via manifold ranking to all the unlabeled images in the database. Furthermore, in gMRBIR, we also make use of relevance feedback and active learning to refine the retrieval result so that it converges to the query concept as fast as possible. Systematic experiments on a general-purpose image database consisting of 5,000 Corel images demonstrate the superiority of gMRBIR over state-of-the-art techniques.     

Unsupervised watershed-driven region-based image retrieval

A novel unsupervised strategy for content-based image retrieval is presented. It is based on a meaningful segmentation procedure that can provide proper distributions for matching via the earth mover's distance as a similarity metric. The segmentation procedure is based on a hierarchical watershed-driven algorithm that extracts meaningful regions automatically. In this framework, the proposed robust feature extraction and the many-to-many region matching along with the novel region weighting for enhancing feature discrimination play a major role. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of the proposed strategy.     

Recent advances in image and video retrieval

This editorial introduces the Special Issue which contains a selection of papers that present recent advances in a number of areas relating to indexing and retrieval. The Issue attempts to present a representative sample of ongoing research focusing mainly on feature extraction, similarity measures, content structuring and the incorporation of user interaction in the retrieval process. All of these can be considered as component technologies that are required for addressing the broader issue of the so-called 'Semantic Gap' currently facing the content-based information retrieval (CBIR) research community. These papers were presented in brief form at the 3rd International Conference on Image and Video Retrieval (CIVR 2004) in Dublin, Ireland.     

Knowledge-based system for boundary detection of four-dimensional cardiac magnetic resonance image sequences

A strategy for a knowledge-based system to detect the interior and exterior boundaries of the left ventricle from time-varying cross-sectional images obtained by ECG-gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is discussed. The system uses both fuzzy set theory and Dempster and Shafer theory to manage the knowledge and to control the flow of system information for more efficient use of limited computational resources and memory space. The key to the approach is that it performs edge detection on images through integration and unification of knowledge and information from edge candidates on all the slices and phases of the acquired cardiac MRI dataset. The analysis system does not base decisions on individual measurements, but on consensus opinions by combining many knowledge sources, some of which may not be completely accurate.