Medical Image Processing, Reconstruction and Restoration: Concepts and Methods

725 Pages·2005·17.99 MB·English

by  Jiri Jan

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Medical Image
Processing,
Reconstruction
and Restoration
Concepts and Methods
Jirˇí Jan
Boca Raton London New York Singapore
A CRC title, part of the Taylor & Francis imprint, a member of the
Taylor & Francis Group, the academic division of T&F Informa plc.
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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Signal Processing and Communications
Editorial Board
Maurice G. Bellanger, Conservatoire National
des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), Paris
Ezio Biglieri,Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Sadaoki Furui, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Yih-Fang Huang,University of Notre Dame
Nikil Jayant, Georgia Institute of Technology
Aggelos K. Katsaggelos, Northwestern University
Mos Kaveh, University of Minnesota
P. K. Raja Rajasekaran, Texas Instruments
John Aasted Sorenson, IT University of Copenhagen
1. Digital Signal Processing for Multimedia Systems, edited by Keshab K. Parhi
and Takao Nishitani
2. Multimedia Systems, Standards, and Networks, edited by Atul Puri
and Tsuhan Chen
3. Embedded Multiprocessors: Scheduling and Synchronization, Sundararajan Sriram
and Shuvra S. Bhattacharyya
4. Signal Processing for Intelligent Sensor Systems, David C. Swanson
5. Compressed Video over Networks, edited by Ming-Ting Sun and Amy R. Reibman
6. Modulated Coding for Intersymbol Interference Channels, Xiang-Gen Xia
7. Digital Speech Processing, Synthesis, and Recognition: Second Edition,
Revised and Expanded, Sadaoki Furui
8. Modern Digital Halftoning, Daniel L. Lau and Gonzalo R. Arce
9. Blind Equalization and Identification, Zhi Ding and Ye (Geoffrey) Li
10. Video Coding for Wireless Communication Systems, King N. Ngan, Chi W. Yap,
and Keng T. Tan
11. Adaptive Digital Filters: Second Edition, Revised and Expanded,
Maurice G. Bellanger
12. Design of Digital Video Coding Systems, Jie Chen, Ut-Va Koc, and K. J. Ray Liu
13. Programmable Digital Signal Processors: Architecture, Programming,
and Applications, edited by Yu Hen Hu
14. Pattern Recognition and Image Preprocessing: Second Edition, Revised
and Expanded, Sing-Tze Bow
15. Signal Processing for Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy,
edited by Hong Yan
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16. Satellite Communication Engineering, Michael O. Kolawole
17. Speech Processing: A Dynamic and Optimization-Oriented Approach, Li Deng
18. Multidimensional Discrete Unitary Transforms: Representation: Partitioning
and Algorithms, Artyom M. Grigoryan, Sos S. Agaian, S.S. Agaian
19. High-Resolution and Robust Signal Processing, Yingbo Hua, Alex B. Gershman
and QiCheng
20. Domain-Specific Processors: Systems, Architectures, Modeling, and Simulation,
Shuvra Bhattacharyya; Ed Deprettere; Jurgen Teich
21. Watermarking Systems Engineering: Enabling Digital Assets Security
and Other Applications, Mauro Barni, Franco Bartolini
22. Biosignal and Biomedical Image Processing: MATLAB-Based Applications,
John L. Semmlow
23. Broadband Last Mile Technologies: Access Technologies for Multimedia
Communications, edited by Nikil Jayant
24. Image Processing Technologies: Algorithms, Sensors, and Applications,
edited by Kiyoharu Aizawa, Katsuhiko Sakaue and Yasuhito Suenaga
25. Medical Image Processing, Reconstruction and Restoration: Concepts
and Methods, Jirˇí Jan
26. Multi-Sensor Image Fusion and Its Applications, edited by Rick Blum
and Zheng Liu
27. Advanced Image Processing in Magnetic Resonance Imaging, edited by
Luigi Landini, Vincenzo Positano and Maria Santarelli
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
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Published in 2006 by
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International Standard Book Number-10: 0-8247-5849-8 (Hardcover)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-8247-5849-3 (Hardcover)
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jan, Jirí.
Medical image processing, reconstruction and restoration : concepts and methods / by Jirí Jan.
p . cm. -- (Signal processing and communications ; 24)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8247-5849-8 (alk. paper)
1. Diagnostic imaging--Digital techniques. I. Title. II. Series.
RC78.7.D53J36 2005
616.07'54--dc22 2004063503
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Preface
Beginning with modest initial attempts in roughly the 1960s, digital
image processing has become a recognized field of science, as well
as a broadly accepted methodology, to solve practical problems in
many different kinds of human activities. The applications encom-
pass an enormous range, starting perhaps with astronomy, geology,
and physics, via medical, biological, and ecological imaging and
technological exploitation, up to the initially unexpected use in
humane sciences, e.g., archaeology or art history. The results
obtained in the area of digital image acquisition, synthesis, process-
ing, and analysis are impressive, though it is often not generally
known that digital methods have been applied. The basic concepts
and theory are, of course, common to the spectrum of applications,
but some aspects are more emphasized and some less in each par-
ticular application field. This book, besides introducing general prin-
ciples and methods, concentrates on applications in the field of
medical imaging, which is specific for at least two features: biomed-
ical imaging often concerns internal structures of living organisms
inaccessible to standard imaging methods, and the resulting images
are observed, evaluated, and classified mostly by nontechnically
oriented staff.
v
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vi Jan
The first feature means that rather specific imaging methods,
namely, tomographic modalities, had to be developed that are
entirely dependent on digital processing of measured preimage data
and that utilize rather sophisticated theoretical backgrounds stem-
ming from the advanced signal theory. Therefore, development of
new or innovated image processing approaches, as well as interpre-
tation of more complicated or unexpected results, requires a deep
understanding of the underlying theory and methods.
Excellent theoretical books on general image processing meth-
ods are available, some of them mentioned in references. In the
area of medical imaging, many books oriented toward individual
clinical branches have been published, mostly with medically inter-
preted case studies. Technical publications on modality-oriented
specialized methods are frequent, either as original journal papers
and conference proceedings or as edited books, contributed to by
numerous specialized authors and summarizing recent contribu-
tions to a particular field of medical image processing. However,
there may be a niche for books that would respect the particularities
of biomedical orientation while still providing a consistent, theo-
retically reasonably exact, and yet comprehensible explanation of
the underlying theoretical concepts and principles of methods of
image processing as applied in the broad medical field and other
application fields.
This book is intended as an attempt in this direction. It is the
author’s persuasion that a good understanding of concepts and prin-
ciples forms a necessary basis to any valid methodology and solid
application. It is relatively easy to continue studying and even
designing specialized advanced approaches with such a background;
on the other hand, it is extremely difficult to grasp a sophisticated
method without well understanding the underlying concepts. Inves-
tigating a well-defined theory from the background also makes the
study enjoyable; even this aspect was in the foundation of the con-
cept of the book.
This is a book primarily for a technically oriented audience, e.g.,
staff members from the medical environment, interdisciplinary
experts of different (not necessarily only biomedical) orientations, and
graduate and postgraduate engineering students. The purpose of the
book is to provide insight; this determines the way the material is
treated: the rigorous mathematical treatment—definition, lemma,
proof — has been abandoned in favor of continuous explanation, in
which most results and conclusions are consistently derived, though
the derivation is contained (and sometimes perhaps even hidden)
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Preface vii
in the text. The aim is that the reader becomes familiar with the
explained concepts and principles, and acquires the idea of not only
believing the conclusions, but also checking and interpreting every
result himself, though perhaps with informal reasoning. It is also
important that all the results would be interpreted in terms of their
“physical” meaning. This does not mean that they be related to a
concrete physical parameter, but rather that they are reasonably inter-
preted with the purpose of the applied processing in mind, e.g., in
terms of information or spectral content. The selection of the material
in the book was based on the idea of including the established back-
ground without becoming mathematically or theoretically superficial,
while possibly eliminating unnecessary details or too specialized infor-
mation that, moreover, may have a rather time-limited validity.
Though the book was primarily conceived with the engineering
community of readers in mind, it should not be unreadable to tech-
nically inclined biomedical experts. It is, of course, possible to suc-
cessfully exploit the image processing methods in clinical practice
or scientific research without becoming involved in the processing
principles. The implementation of imaging modalities must be
adapted to this standard situation by providing an environment in
which the nontechnical expert would not feel the image processing
to be a strange or even hostile element. However, the interpretation
of the image results, namely, in more involved cases, as well as the
indication of suitable image processing procedures under more com-
plex circumstances, may be supported by the user’s understanding
of the processing concepts. It is therefore a side ambition of this
book to be comprehensible enough to enable appreciation of the
principles, perhaps without derivations, even by a differently ori-
ented expert, should he be interested.
It should also be stated what the book is not intended to be.
It does not discuss the medical interpretation of the image results;
no casuistic analysis is included. Concerning the technical contents,
it is also not a theoretical in-depth monograph on a highly special-
ized theme that would not be understandable to a technically or
mathematically educated user of the imaging methods or a similarly
oriented graduate student; such specialized publications may be
found among the references. Finally, while the book may be helpful
even as a daily reference to concepts and methods, it is not a manual
on application details and does not refer to any particular program,
system, or implementation.
The content of the book has been divided into three parts.
The first part, “Images as Multidimensional Signals,” provides the
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viii Jan
introductory chapters on the basic image processing theory. The
second part, “Imaging Systems as Data Sources,” is intended as
an alternative view on the imaging modalities. While the physical
principles are limited to the extent necessary to explain the imag-
ing properties, the emphasis is put on analyzing the internal
signals and (pre)image data that are to be consequently processed.
With respect to this goal, the technological solutions and details
of the imaging systems are also omitted. The third part, “Image
Processing and Analysis,” starts with tomographic image recon-
struction, which is of fundamental importance in medical imaging.
Another topical theme of medical imaging is image fusion, includ-
ing multimodal image registration. Further, methods of image
enhancement and restoration are treated in individual chapters.
The next chapter is devoted to image analysis, including segmen-
tation, as a preparation for diagnostics. The concluding chapter,
on the image processing environment, briefly comments on hard-
ware and software exploited in medical imaging and on processing
aspects of image archiving and communication, including princi-
ples of image data compression.
With respect to the broad spectrum of potential readers, the
book was designed to be as self-contained as possible. Though back-
ground in signal theory would be advantageous, it is not necessary,
as the basic terms are briefly explained where needed. Each part
of the book is provided with a list of references, containing the
literature used as sources or recommended for further study. Cita-
tion of numerous original works, though their influence and contri-
bution to the medical imaging field are highly appreciated, was
mostly avoided as superfluous in this type of book, unless these
works served as immediate sources or examples.
The author hopes that (in spite of some ever-present oversights
and omissions) the reader will find the book’s content to be consistent
and interesting, and studying it intellectually rewarding. If the basic
knowledge contained within becomes a key to solving practical appli-
cation problems and to informed interpretation of results, or a start-
ing point to investigating more advanced approaches and methods,
the book’s intentions will have been fulfilled.
Jir˘í Jan
Brno, Czech Republic
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Acknowledgments
This book is partly based on courses on basic and advanced digital
image processing methods, offered for almost 20 years to graduate
and Ph.D. students of electronics and informatics at Brno University
of Technology. A part of these courses has always been oriented toward
biomedical applications. Here I express thanks to all colleagues and
students, with whom discussions often led to a better view of indi-
vidual problems. In this respect, the comments of the book reviewer,
Dr. S.M. Krishnan, Nanyang Technological University Singapore,
have also been highly appreciated.
Most of medical images presented as illustrations or used as
material in the derived figures have been kindly provided by the coop-
erating hospitals and their staffs: the Faculty Hospital of St. Anne Brno
(Assoc. Prof. P. Krupa, M.D., Ph.D.), the Faculty Hospital Brno-Bohu-
nice (Assoc. Prof. J. Prasek, M.D., Ph.D.; Assoc. Prof. V. Chaloupka,
M.D., Ph.D., Assist. Prof. R. Gerychova, M.D.), Masaryk Memorial
Cancer Institute Brno (Karel Bolcak, M.D.), Institute of Scientific
Instruments, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Assoc. Prof.
M. Kasal, Ph.D.), and Brno University of Technology (Assoc. Prof. A.
Drastich, Ph.D., D. Janova, M.Sc.). Their courtesy is highly appreci-
ated. Recognition notices are only placed with figures that contain
ix
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x Jan
original medical images; they are not repeated with figures where
these images serve as material to be processed or analyzed. Thanks
also belong to former doctoral students V. Jan, Ph.D., and R. Jirik,
Ph.D., who provided most of the drawn and derived-image figures.
The book utilizes as illustrations of the described methods,
among others, some results of the research conducted by the group
headed by the author. Support of the related projects by grant no.
102/02/0890 of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, by grants
no. CEZ MSM 262200011 and CEZ MS 0021630513 of the Ministry
of Education of the Czech Republic, and also by the research centre
grant 1M6798555601 is acknowledged.
© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC