Patent ID: 6801646
Filing Date: 2004-10-05
Classification: A61B,G06T

Abstract:
A method for imaging an object while reducing artifacts and improving a uniformity of illumination in the image, the method comprising:(a) receiving raw imaging data from the object; (b) estimating an illumination function from the raw imaging data; (c) correcting the raw imaging data in accordance with the estimated illumination function to obtain an illumination corrected image; (d) preparing an adaptive filter from the illumination corrected image; and (e) preparing a final processed image from the adaptive filter and the illumination corrected image; wherein the step of estimating the illumination function comprises: (i) creating a copy of the raw imaging data; (ii) initializing a potential field to zero; (iii) initializing a first counter to one; (iv) gray scale dilating the raw imaging data in accordance with a value of the counter to obtain gray scale dilated data; (v) setting the potential field equal to the first counter; (vi) estimating a directional derivative of the illumination function; (vii) reconstructing the illumination function from the directional derivative; (viii) setting the raw imaging data equal to the gray scale dilated data; (ix) incrementing the first counter; and (x) repeating steps (iv) through (ix) until no points in the potential field have changes in value.