Oriented Modulation for Watermarking in Direct Binary Search Halftone Images

BackgroundTo study the impact of image quality on quantitative measurements and the frequency of segmentation error with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).MethodsSeventeen eyes of 10 healthy individuals were included in this study. OCTA was performed using a swept-source device (Triton, Topcon). Each subject underwent three scanning sessions 1–2 min apart; the first two scans were obtained under standard conditions and for the third session, the image quality index was reduced using application of a topical ointment. En face OCTA images of the retinal vasculature were generated using the default segmentation for the superficial and deep retinal layer (SRL, DRL). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used as a measure for repeatability. The frequency of segmentation error, motion artifact, banding artifact and projection artifact was also compared among the three sessions.ResultsThe frequency of segmentation error, and motion artifact was statistically similar between high and low image quality sessions (P = 0.707, and P = 1 respectively). However, the frequency of projection and banding artifact was higher with a lower image quality. The vessel density in the SRL was highly repeatable in the high image quality sessions (ICC = 0.8), however, the repeatability was low, comparing the high and low image quality measurements (ICC = 0.3). In the DRL, the repeatability of the vessel density measurements was fair in the high quality sessions (ICC = 0.6 and ICC = 0.5, with and without automatic artifact removal, respectively) and poor comparing high and low image quality sessions (ICC = 0.3 and ICC = 0.06, with and without automatic artifact removal, respectively).ConclusionsThe frequency of artifacts is higher and the repeatability of the measurements is lower with lower image quality. The impact of image quality index should be always considered in OCTA based quantitative measurements.

Dot diffusion is an efficient approach which utilizes concepts of block-wise and parallel-oriented processing to generate halftones. However, the block-wise nature of processing reduces image quality much more significantly as compared to error diffusion. In this work, four types of filters with various sizes are employed in co-optimization procedures with class matrices of size 8 n 8 and 16 x 16 to improve the image quality. The optimal diffused weighting and area are determined through simulations. Many well-known halftoning methods, some of which includes direct binary search (DBS), error diffusion, ordered dithering, and prior dot diffusion methods, are also included for comparisons. Experimental results show that the proposed dot diffusion achieved quality close to some forms of error diffusion, and additionally, superior to the well-known Jarvis and Stucki error diffusion and Mese's dot diffusion. Moreover, the inherent parallel processing advantage of dot diffusion is preserved, allowing us to reap higher executing efficiency than both DBS and error diffusion.

The invention of flat-panel detectors led to a revolution in medical imaging. The major benefits of this technology are a higher image quality and dose reduction. Flat-panel detectors have proved to be superior to standard C-arms (= C-arm with radiograph source and image intensifier).Cone-beam computed tomography (cone-beam CT) is a 3D data set, which can be acquired with a flat-panel detector. The cone-shaped beam is used for 3D data generation. For cone-beam CT acquisition, the flat-panel detector rotates around the patient lying on the operating table. Intra-operative cone-beam CT can be a very helpful tool in orthopaedic surgery. Immediate control of fracture reduction and implant positioning in high image quality can reduce the need for secondary revision surgery due to implant malposition.In recent years there has been a revival of standard fan beam CT technology in operating rooms. Fixed and mobile systems are available. Fixed systems are typically placed on a sliding gantry. Different mobile intra-operative CT scanners were recently introduced. Due to their mobility, they are not bound to a specific operating room. The use of standard intra-operative CT scanners results in high 3D image quality but, in comparison with a cone-beam CT scanner, fluoroscopy is not possible.The introduction of flat-panel detectors has led to improvements in intra-operative image quality combined with dose reduction. The possibility of high-quality 3D imaging in combination with navigation can assure optimal implant placement. Due to immediate control of the osteosynthesis, revision surgery at a later time can be prevented.Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2018;3 DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.3.170055

For traditional imaging systems, high imaging quality and system miniaturization are often contradictory. In order to meet the requirements of high imaging quality and system miniaturization, this paper proposes a method to correct the aberration of coherent imaging optical systems. The method is based on the idea of phase recovery and the imaging principle of a coherent imaging system to recover the aberrations at the exit pupil of the system. According to the recovered aberrations, conjugate filters are constructed to correct the image quality in the frequency domain. The imaging quality of the system is improved without changing the original optical path, and the simplicity of the system is guaranteed. To solve the pupil frequency domain aberration more accurately, this paper adopts the dual competition and parallel recombination strategy based on the genetic algorithm and introduces the disaster model. The improved genetic algorithm can effectively restrain the appearance of the “precocity” phenomenon. Finally, the paraxial imaging optical path is simulated and verified by experiments. The results show that, after aberration correction, the image sharpness is improved and the edge information is richer, which verifies the feasibility of the coherent imaging system image quality enhancement method proposed in this paper.

Mobile advertising refers to communication in which mobile phones are used as a medium to efficiently attract potential customers. Among mobile advertising applications, barcodes are becoming a very powerful mobile commerce tool. By capturing a barcode with a camera scanner, people can easily access a wealth of information online. Barcodes have thus converted hard copies of newspapers, wallpapers, and magazines into crucial platforms for mobile commerce. However, although barcodes are frequently used for embedding information in printed matter, they have unsightly overt patterns. Concealing data in visually meaningful image barcodes (such as trademarks) instead of using extra barcode areas has the advantage of increasing the added value of using conventional barcode patterns, and thus it is desirable for future mobile advertising. This paper presents a novel data-hiding method for halftone images. Data-hiding and halftoning algorithms are integrated into the method to prevent extreme bi-level quantization in the halftoning process, for printing purposes. We first applied regular ordered dithering to divide the input continuous-tone image into discrete-parameter halftone cells. The hidden data message was embedded in the halftone cells by using a screen column-shift method. A modified direct binary search (DBS) optimization framework was then used to enhance the output image quality. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed method outperformed a state-of-the-art method in terms of image quality and data capacity.

A region based random multi-pixel search algorithm to improve the binary hologram reconstruction quality

To investigate the feasibility of simultaneous multislice-accelerated diffusion-weighted imaging (sms-DWI) of the pancreas with different acceleration factors and its influence on image quality, acquisition time and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) in comparison to conventional sequences. DWI of the pancreas was performed at 1.5T in ten healthy volunteers and 20 patients with sms-accelerated echo-planar DWI using two different sms-acceleration factors of 2 and 3 (sms2/3-DWI). These DWI sequences were compared to conventional DWI (c-DWI) in terms of image quality parameters (5-point Likert scale) and ADC measurements. c-DWI and sms2-DWI offered equivalently high overall image quality (4 [1; 5]) with scan time reduction to one-third (c-DWI: 173 s, sms2-DWI: 56 s). Sms3-DWI showed significantly poorer overall image quality (3 [1; 5]; p < 0.0001). ADC values were significantly lower in sms3-DWI compared to c-DWI in the pancreatic body and tail (body: c-DWI 1.4 x 10-3 mm2/s, sms3-DWI 1.0 x 10-3 mm2/s, p = 0.028; tail: c-DWI 1.3 x 10-3 mm2/s and sms3-DWI 1.0 x 10-3 mm2/s, p = 0.014). Accelerated multislice DWI of the pancreas offers high image quality with a substantial reduction of acquisition time. Lower ADC values in multislice DWI should be considered in diagnostic reading. • Simultaneous multislice-accelerated diffusion-weighted imaging (sms-DWI) promises scan time minimisation. • Sms-DWI of the pancreas offers diagnostic image quality in volunteers and patients. • Sms-DWI with an acceleration factor of 2 offers high image quality. • Higher acceleration factors in sms-DWI do not provide sufficient diagnostic image quality. • ADC values may be lower in sms-DWI.

Acoustic Inkjet Printing (AIP) is suitable for jetting a small drop when compared with other available methods because the drop size depends not on the nozzle area but on the frequency of acoustic beam that enables ejection from free liquid surface.For inkjet printing, drop modulation is the major technology being effective to realize both high image quality and high print speed. In the previous reports regarding AIP, multiple droplets were fired at the same location on paper for gray scale of image.1 This method could enhance image quality at the sacrifice of print speed.Here we propose a method of drop size modulation in AIP to achieve both high image quality and high print speed. It has been proved that the drop size is modulated by a second harmonic on fresnel lens without changing the liquid level and other dimensions. This report also shows that calculations and experiments ascertained drop modulation by the second harmonic.

In this work, we propose a new digital watermarking scheme for extremely high-resolution printing images applicable to On-Demand Publishing (ODP) system. We designed our scheme by considering the following requirements: (i) high image quality, (ii) high security, and (iii) watermark immunity (robustness). In order to attain these requirements we employ the idea of Spread Spectrum (SS) watermarking technique in our scheme and modify it to be applicable to color (CMYK) binary printing images. Simulation results verified that we could embed a watermark spreading over the entire output image as a weak energy and still keep high image quality. Also the watermark could be robustly decoded by controlling some parameters even after some possible attacks by a third party.

We introduce a process for optically reconstructing full-color holographic images recorded by optical scanning holography. A complex RGB-color hologram was recorded and converted into a binary hologram using a direct binary search (DBS) algorithm. The generated binary hologram was then optically reconstructed using a spatial light modulator. The discrepancies between the reconstructed object sizes and colors due to chromatic aberration were corrected by adjusting the reconstruction parameters in the DBS algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first optical reconstruction of a full-color hologram recorded by optical scanning holography.

Automated three-dimensional breast ultrasound (ABUS) is a valuable adjunct to x-ray mammography for breast cancer screening of women with dense breasts. High image quality is essential for proper diagnostics and computer-aided detection. We propose an automated image quality assessment system for ABUS images that detects artifacts at the time of acquisition. Therefore, we study three aspects that can corrupt ABUS images: the nipple position relative to the rest of the breast, the shadow caused by the nipple, and the shape of the breast contour on the image. Image processing and machine learning algorithms are combined to detect these artifacts based on 368 clinical ABUS images that have been rated manually by two experienced clinicians. At a specificity of 0.99, 55% of the images that were rated as low quality are detected by the proposed algorithms. The areas under the ROC curves of the single classifiers are 0.99 for the nipple position, 0.84 for the nipple shadow, and 0.89 for the breast contour shape. The proposed algorithms work fast and reliably, which makes them adequate for online evaluation of image quality during acquisition. The presented concept may be extended to further image modalities and quality aspects.

In this paper we review image requirements and the potential use of various printing technologies to record digital diagnostic radiographic information. An analysis of limitations and advantages of alternate imaging systems compared to current laser imager/silver halide film systems will be presented. The future move to digital radiology along with its hard copy requirements will also be discussed. The winning technologies in the market place will be determined by their ability to provide adequate image quality at low cost while meeting productivity, durability, and convenience requirements. The first technology to meet these requirements will have a tremendous advantage in the market place. Medical imaging hard copy is dominated by the use of silver halide media providing monochrome images of diagnostic image quality. As new digital medical imaging modalities have emerged they have opened the door to new hard copy technologies. These new technologies have been born and nurtured outside the medical market by small markets with high image quality requirements or by large markets with lower image quality requirements. The former have tended to provide high cost, high quality solutions and the latter low cost, low quality solutions. Silver halide media still dominates, at least in part, because it provides high image quality at a relatively low cost. Yet, the trend away from wet silver halide is evident. These new hard copy technologies are being tested to determine their applicability to the medical market and are finding niches where they provide value. A clear winner that provides the required image quality at low cost has yet to emerge.

To evaluate the image quality improvement and noise reduction in routine dose, non-enhanced chest CT imaging by using a new generation adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASIR-V) in comparison with ASIR algorithm. 30 patients who underwent routine dose, non-enhanced chest CT using GE Discovery CT750HU (GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI) were included. The scan parameters included tube voltage of 120 kVp, automatic tube current modulation to obtain a noise index of 14HU, rotation speed of 0.6 s, pitch of 1.375:1 and slice thickness of 5 mm. After scanning, all scans were reconstructed with the recommended level of 40%ASIR for comparison purpose and different percentages of ASIR-V from 10% to 100% in a 10% increment. The CT attenuation values and SD of the subcutaneous fat, back muscle and descending aorta were measured at the level of tracheal carina of all reconstructed images. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was calculated with SD representing image noise. The subjective image quality was independently evaluated by two experienced radiologists. For all ASIR-V images, the objective image noise (SD) of fat, muscle and aorta decreased and SNR increased along with increasing ASIR-V percentage. The SD of 30% ASIR-V to 100% ASIR-V was significantly lower than that of 40% ASIR (p < 0.05). In terms of subjective image evaluation, all ASIR-V reconstructions had good diagnostic acceptability. However, the 50% ASIR-V to 70% ASIR-V series showed significantly superior visibility of small structures when compared with the 40% ASIR and ASIR-V of other percentages (p < 0.05), and 60% ASIR-V was the best series of all ASIR-V images, with a highest subjective image quality. The image sharpness was significantly decreased in images reconstructed by 80% ASIR-V and higher. In routine dose, non-enhanced chest CT, ASIR-V shows greater potential in reducing image noise and artefacts and maintaining image sharpness when compared to the recommended level of 40%ASIR algorithm. Combining both the objective and subjective evaluation of images, non-enhanced chest CT images reconstructed with 60% ASIR-V have the highest image quality. Advances in knowledge: This is the first clinical study to evaluate the clinical value of ASIR-V in the same patients using the same CT scanner in the non-enhanced chest CT scans. It suggests that ASIR-V provides the better image quality and higher diagnostic confidence in comparison with ASIR algorithm.

Improved Coherent Plane-Wave Compounding Using Sign Coherence Factor Weighting for Frequency-Domain Beamforming.

Adaptive under-sampling strategy for fast imaging in compressive sensing-based atomic force microscopy