Title :
Medical image fusion for color visualization via 3D RDWT
Author_Institution :
Inst. for High Performance Comput. & Networking, Nat. Res. Council, Naples, Italy
Abstract :
This paper presents a novel 3D multimodality medical image fusion algorithm based on wavelet multiresolution analysis, a powerful tool able to decompose an image into multiple frequency bands that can be independently analyzed and merged. The focus of this work is to merge 3D medical images coming from several modalities (CT, PET, MRI, etc.), organized as series of 2D image slices, while preserving the salient information. The algorithm aims also at enhancing the visualization of fused images by applying a color to source images. A pre-processing stage using rescaling and resampling filters makes the spatial resolution and the image slice number of the input series equal. Images are i) decomposed by 3D RDWT, ii) combined through appropriate fusion rules based on average, variance and energy, and iii) reconstructed by 3D IRDWT. Experimental results validate the superiority of the proposed 3D technique over other existing algorithms on the basis of subjective and objective criteria.
Keywords :
biomedical MRI; filters; image enhancement; image fusion; image reconstruction; image resolution; medical image processing; positron emission tomography; wavelet transforms; 3D RDWT; CT; MRI; PET; color visualization; image decomposition; image enhancement; image reconstruction; image slice number; medical image fusion; resampling filter; rescaling filter; spatial resolution; wavelet multiresolution analysis; Biomedical imaging; Computed tomography; Gray-scale; Image resolution; Magnetic resonance imaging; Positron emission tomography; Wavelet analysis;
Conference_Titel :
Information Technology and Applications in Biomedicine (ITAB), 2010 10th IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Corfu
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-6559-0
DOI :
10.1109/ITAB.2010.5687754