Three-band MRI image fusion utilizing the wavelet-based method optimized with two quantitative fusion metrics

Yufeng Zheng; Adel S. Elmaghraby; Hichem Frigui

doi:10.1117/12.651689

10 March 2006 Three-band MRI image fusion utilizing the wavelet-based method optimized with two quantitative fusion metrics

Yufeng Zheng, Adel S. Elmaghraby, Hichem Frigui

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6144, Medical Imaging 2006: Image Processing; 61440R (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.651689
Event: Medical Imaging, 2006, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), there are three bands of images ("MRI triplet") available, which are T1-, T2- and PD-weighted images. The three images of a MRI triplet provide complementary structure information and therefore it is useful for diagnosis and subsequent analysis to combine three-band images into one. We propose an advanced discrete wavelet transform (αDWT) for three-band MRI image fusion and the αDWT algorithm is further optimized utilizing two quantitative fusion metrics - the image quality index (IQI) and ratio spatial frequency error (rSFe). In the aDWT method, principle component analysis (PCA) and morphological processing are incorporated into a regular DWT fusion algorithm. Furthermore, the αDWT has two adjustable parameters - the level of DWT decomposition (L_d) and the length of the selected wavelet (L_w) that determinately affect the fusion result. The fused image quality can be quantitatively measured with the established metrics - IQI and rSFe. Varying the control parameters (L_dand L_w), an iterative fusion procedure can be implemented and running until an optimized fusion is achieved. We fused and analyzed several MRI triplets from the Visible Human Project^® female dataset. From the quantitative and qualitative evaluations of fused images, we found that (1) the αDWTi-IQI algorithm produces a smoothed image whereas the αDWTi-rSFe algorithm yields a sharpened image, (2) fused image "T1+T2" is the most informative one in comparison with other two-in-one fusions (PD+T1 and PD+T2), (3) for three-in-one fusions, no significant difference is observed among the three fusions of (PD+T1)+T2, (PD+T2)+T1 and (T1+T2)+PD, thus the order of fusion does not play an important role. The fused images can significantly benefit medical diagnosis and also the further image processing such as multi-modality image fusion (with CT images), visualization (colorization), segmentation, classification and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD).

Citation Download Citation

Yufeng Zheng, Adel S. Elmaghraby, and Hichem Frigui "Three-band MRI image fusion utilizing the wavelet-based method optimized with two quantitative fusion metrics", Proc. SPIE 6144, Medical Imaging 2006: Image Processing, 61440R (10 March 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.651689

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available