207761262
Image quality assessment: from error visibility to structural similarity
Objective methods for assessing perceptual image quality traditionally attempted to quantify the visibility of errors (differences) between a distorted image and a reference image using a variety of known properties of the human visual system. Under the assumption that human visual perception is highly adapted for extracting structural information from a scene, we introduce an alternative complementary framework for quality assessment based on the degradation of structural information. As a specific example of this concept, we develop a structural similarity index and demonstrate its promise through a set of intuitive examples, as well as comparison to both subjective ratings and state-of-the-art objective methods on a database of images compressed with JPEG and JPEG2000. A MATLAB implementation of the proposed algorithm is available online at http://www.cns.nyu.edu//spl sim/lcv/ssim/.
5251967
Foveation scalable video coding with automatic fixation selection
Image and video coding is an optimization problem. A successful image and video coding algorithm delivers a good tradeoff between visual quality and other coding performance measures, such as compression, complexity, scalability, robustness, and security. In this paper, we follow two recent trends in image and video coding research. One is to incorporate human visual system (HVS) models to improve the current state-of-the-art of image and video coding algorithms by better exploiting the properties of the intended receiver. The other is to design rate scalable image and video codecs, which allow the extraction of coded visual information at continuously varying bit rates from a single compressed bitstream. Specifically, we propose a foveation scalable video coding (FSVC) algorithm which supplies good quality-compression performance as well as effective rate scalability. The key idea is to organize the encoded bitstream to provide the best decoded video at an arbitrary bit rate in terms of foveated visual quality measurement. A foveation-based HVS model plays an important role in the algorithm. The algorithm is adaptable to different applications, such as knowledge-based video coding and video communications over time-varying, multiuser and interactive networks.
17056192
Automatic Alignment of High-Resolution NMR Spectra Using a Bayesian Estimation Approach
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral analysis has recently become one of the major means for the detection and recognition of metabolic changes of disease state, physiological alteration, and natural biological variation. For the pattern recognition tasks in which two or more NMR spectra need to be compared, it is critical to properly align the spectra for the subsequent pattern recognition analysis. Previous spectral alignment methods do not consider any baseline intensity variation between the spectra and disregard the effect of noise. Here we formulate the spectra alignment problem in a Bayesian statistical framework, which allows us to simultaneously and efficiently estimate the spectral shift and the baseline intensity variation in the existence of independent additive noise. Experimental results with real high-resolution NMR spectral data from human plasma demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach
16274687
Measuring Intra- and Inter-Observer Agreement in Identifying and Localizing Structures in Medical Images
Inter- and intra-observer variability exists in any measurements made on medical images. There are two sources of variability. The first occurs when the observers identify and localize the object of interest, and the second happens when the observers make appropriate measurement on the object of interest. A number of statistical methods are available to quantify the degree of agreement between measurements made by different observers. However, little has been done to develop metrics for quantifying the variability in identifying and localizing the objects of interest prior to measurement. In this paper, we propose to use the complex wavelet structural similarity index (CW-SSIM) method to measure the variability in identifying and localizing structures on images. Performance comparisons using simulated images as well as real mammography images demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the CW-SSIM method.
8060733
Embedded foveation image coding
The human visual system (HVS) is highly space-variant in sampling, coding, processing, and understanding. The spatial resolution of the HVS is highest around the point of fixation (foveation point) and decreases rapidly with increasing eccentricity. By taking advantage of this fact, it is possible to remove considerable high-frequency information redundancy from the peripheral regions and still reconstruct a perceptually good quality image. Great success has been obtained previously by a class of embedded wavelet image coding algorithms, such as the embedded zerotree wavelet (EZW) and the set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) algorithms. Embedded wavelet coding not only provides very good compression performance, but also has the property that the bitstream can be truncated at any point and still be decoded to recreate a reasonably good quality image. In this paper, we propose an embedded foveation image coding (EFIC) algorithm, which orders the encoded bitstream to optimize foveated visual quality at arbitrary bit-rates. A foveation-based image quality metric, namely, foveated wavelet image quality index (FWQI), plays an important role in the EFIC system. We also developed a modified SPIHT algorithm to improve the coding efficiency. Experiments show that EFIC integrates foveation filtering with foveated image coding and demonstrates very good coding performance and scalability in terms of foveated image quality measurement.
6449041
Adaptive frame prediction for foveation scalable video coding
Embedded rate scalable video coding allows for the extraction of coded visual information at continuously varying bit rates from a single compressed bitstream. This is a very attractive feature for many multimedia communication applications. Motion estimation (ME) /motion compensation (MC) techniques are widely employed in various video coding systems to reduce temporal information redundancy. One of the major challenging problems in ME/MC based rate scalable video coding is how to generate the prediction frame from the previous frame to match the current frame. This problem is more difficult in rate scalable coding than in fixed rate coding because the decoding data rate is unavailable to the encoder. We propose an adaptive frame prediction scheme for foveation scalable video coding (FSVC), which is a new video coding algorithm that combines a foveation-based human visual system (HVS) model with a wavelet-based rate scalable coding algorithm. The new frame prediction algorithm provides an adaptive mechanism to control the prediction errors while reduce error propagation.
204983610
Pyramidic Clustering of Large-Scale Microarray Images
With ongoing research and development of imaging techniques such as those involved in brain MRIs, cDNA microarrays and satellite reconnaissance, the need for tools that can intelligently parse larger images is ever increasing. One group of such techniques often used is that of segmentation, an example of which is that of clustering algorithms. In order to deal with large data sets, current approaches require the data to be sampled or summarized before true analysis can take place. In this paper we propose a novel image analysis technique using pyramidic type grouping, namely copasetic clustering, which focuses on the problem of applying traditional clustering techniques to these large-scale image data sets with limited resources. A further benefit of the technique is the transparency of its intermediate clustering steps; when applied to spatial data sets this allows the capture and incorporation of contextual information to improve result accuracy. The algorithm achieves an ∼1--3 dB w-to-noise ratio when compared with the conventional techniques described.
17941589
Novel integrated optical router for microphotonic switching
In this paper, a novel integrated optical beam router for microphotonic switching is presented. The router uses a piecewise linear optic that steers and couples optical collimated beams to optical fibre ports with minimum loss and excellent tolerance to fluctuations in design parameters. Experimental results show that for a 1/spl times/2 MicroPhotonic switch, fibre-to-fibre optical coupling loss less than 1.05 dB and insertion loss uniformity better than 0.2 dB can be achieved, and the measured loss penalty for changes /spl plusmn/0.5 mm in component position is negligible.
1087779
A note on the robust stability of uncertain stochastic fuzzy systems with time-delays
Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy models are now often used to describe complex nonlinear systems in terms of fuzzy sets and fuzzy reasoning applied to a set of linear submodels. In this note, the T-S fuzzy model approach is exploited to establish stability criteria for a class of nonlinear stochastic systems with time delay. Sufficient conditions are derived in the format of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), such that for all admissible parameter uncertainties, the overall fuzzy system is stochastically exponentially stable in the mean square, independent of the time delay. Therefore, with the numerically attractive Matlab LMI toolbox, the robust stability of the uncertain stochastic fuzzy systems with time delays can be easily checked.
13893124
Lifetime Maximization of Sensor Networks Under Connectivity and k-Coverage Constraints
In this paper, we study the fundamental limits of a wireless sensor network's lifetime under connectivity and k-coverage constraints. We consider a wireless sensor network with n sensors deployed independently and uniformly in a square field of unit area. Each sensor is active with probability p, independently from others, and each active sensor can sense a disc area with radius rs. Moreover, considering the inherent irregularity of a sensor's sensing range caused by time-varying environments, we model the sensing radius rs as a random variable with mean r0 and variance r$_{\rm 0}^{\rm 2}$σ$_{s}^{\rm 2}$. Two active sensors can communicate with each other if and only if the distance between them is smaller than or equal to the communication radius rc. 
 
The key contributions of this paper are: (1) we introduce a new definition of a wireless sensor network's lifetime from a novel probabilistic perspective, called ω-lifetime (0 ≤ ω ≤ 1). It is defined as the expectation of the time interval during which the probability of guaranteeing connectivity and k-coverage simultaneously is at least ω; and (2) based on the analysis results, we propose a near-optimal scheduling algorithm, called PIS (Pre-planned Independent Sleeping), to achieve the network's maximum ω-lifetime, which is validated by simulation results, and present a possible implementation of the PIS scheme in the distributed manner.
31361781
Adaptive Processing of Tree-Structure Image Representation
Much research on image analysis and processing has been carried out for the last few decades. However, it is still challenging to represent the image contents effectively and satisfactorily. In this paper, a segmentation-free tree-structure image representation is presented. In order to learn the structure representation, a back-propagation through structure (BPTS) algorithm is adopted. Experiments on plant image classification and retrieval refining using only six visual features were conducted on a plant image database and a natural scene image database, respectively. Encouraging results have been achieved.