Patent ID: 8238630

Claim:
An image processing method, said method comprising: storing two medical images obtained by imaging the same region that includes a plurality of tissues; dividing each of the two medical images into a plurality of tissue regions corresponding to a plurality of tissues imaged in each medical image; calculating a similarity level by a computer processor for each corresponding pair of tissue regions from the plurality of tissue regions in each of the two medical images divided by said dividing, wherein said pairing in each corresponding pair of tissue regions is based on the form of each tissue region thereof; setting an interest level for said each corresponding pair; obtaining a weight for said each corresponding pair according to the similarity level calculated by said calculating and the interest level set by said interest level setting; setting an image processing condition for approximating an overall image characteristic between the two medical images based on image information included in said each corresponding pair such that the greater the weight of a corresponding pair, the higher the matching level of an image characteristic between the pair; and performing image processing by a computer processor on at least one of the two medical images according to said image processing condition.