Multipurpose Watermarking Algorithm for Medical Images

Considering the existing medical image watermarking algorithms, a single function often has limitations, and a multipurpose watermarking algorithm for medical images is proposed. First, medical images are divided into regions of interest (ROIs) and regions of noninterest (RONIs). Then, the authentication watermark produced for each subblock of the ROI is embedded into the corresponding mapping subblock. The visible watermark is embedded into the RONI, and, finally, the watermark information and constructed authentication information in each subblock of the ROI are embedded into the corresponding RONI subblock. Simulation results show that the embedded visible watermark can protect and facilitate medical image management. In addition, the proposed algorithm has strong robustness and very good visual quality. It can simultaneously realize copyright protection and content authentication and also has high tamper localization capability.