Patent ID: 6778692
Filing Date: 2004-08-17
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A method of processing an image comprising the steps of:collecting medical diagnostic data; converting said medical diagnostic data into a first electronic image representation which includes a first array of pixel intensity values X(i,j); converting said diagnostic data into a second electronic image representation which includes a second array of pixel intensity values F(i,j); and linearly combining X(i,j) and F(i,j) on a pixel by pixel basis using an array &agr;, by combining X(i,j) and F(i,j) in accordance with weighting coefficients &agr;(i,j) and (1âˆ’&agr;(i,j)) respectively, to generate a processed image comprising a third array of pixel intensity values P(i,j) and wherein said weighting coefficients &agr;(i,j) and (1âˆ’&agr;(i,j)), operate to combine X(i,j) and F(i,j) in accordance with the relationship: P=&agr;(i,j)X(i,j)+[1âˆ’&agr;(i,j)]F(i,j); wherein: &agr;(i,j)<1, i=1, . . . , H and j=1, . . . , W and wherein F is the low pass filtered image and H and W are the height and width of the image, respectively; wherein said weighting coefficient &agr;(i,j) is selected so as to provide a processed image pixel P(i,j) having a target SNR corresponding to a target SNR curve.