Abstract: A computer-implemented method and apparatus is provided for workflow configuration and execution in medical imaging. One method embodiment comprises the steps of creating and storing a workflow template (the workflow template comprising a standard form for entering data and activities), filling out the workflow template with data and a sequence of activities, and executing the sequence of activities according to the workflow template.

Abstract: An arrangement for examination of one or more specimens arranged in specimen vessels or on specimen carriers by transmitted light or incident light by imaging and/or detecting at least a portion of the specimen volume through the specimen vessel or specimen carrier by a CCD camera followed by an evaluating unit, wherein, advantageously, an incident illumination is likewise effected through the specimen vessel or specimen carrier and the illumination is used to excite specimen emission, preferably fluorescence excitation.

Abstract: The invention is characterized in certain aspects by data processing architectures and methods of processing a mail piece having a destination address field through outgoing and incoming mail centers. An illustrative method includes receiving a mail piece at an outgoing mail center for transport to an incoming mail center and subsequent sorting and transport from the incoming mail center to an an addressee. The mail piece includes a destination address field that is divided into a first address portion and a second address portion. The first address portion is interpreted at the outgoing mail center and used to sort the mail piece for transport to the incoming mail center. The second address portion is eventually resolved and used by the incoming mail center to sort the mail piece for subsequent delivery to an addressee.

Abstract: The disclosed content relates to a three dimensional real-time imaging apparatus of the ocular retina, which is associated with the most frequent ophthalmic diseases. In the present invention, the laser rays are formed into two dimensional ray surface sequentially with the time by using a polygon mirror motor and galvanometer and irradiated on the almost transparent retina through the pupil. The optical system is so arranged that the incident angles, relative to a retina, of the laser beams irradiated on the retina at respective moments may agree with the output angles of imaginary lines of the same laser rays reflected from a retina in both the vertical and horizontal direction. Further, the laser sequential single lines lit on the retina are caused to correspond to the sensors array, so that two dimensional retinal surface elements as many as the sensors of the sensor array are imaged in real time three dimensions.

Abstract: A traffic monitoring apparatus that is used to reliably detect the occurrence of an abnormal situation, such as a traffic accident. An imaging device produces and outputs images of a point to be monitored at predetermined intervals. Image inputting unit of the traffic monitoring apparatus inputs images output from the imaging device. Move vector extracting unit first generates a background image from a plurality of images input, then specifies areas where a moving object exists by calculating the difference between the background image and a newly input image, and then extracts move vectors from the specified areas. Parameter calculating unit calculates the slope and intercept, being parameters, of a move vector by considering the move vector as a segment. Plotting unit plots parameters for each move vector in a two-dimensional coordinate system with slope and intercept as its bases.

Abstract: A method (and system) of watermarking a half-toned image, includes grouping pixels of an image into blocks each containing a plurality of pixels, using as many gray levels as there are pixels in a block to halftone the image formed in the same blocks of pixels, based on a data set formed by the gray levels of the blocks of the halftoned image, generating at least one of a digital signature and a compressed version of the image, to form a generated unit, and inserting the generated unit in the halftoned image to form the watermark, by selecting how a predetermined number of pixels in a block are placed in the block.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for modifying the perceived quality of a document or image. The method includes inputting image or document data representing the image or document to be modified, analyzing the image or document data for one or more objects, evaluating the objects as one or more of acceptable, improvable or deficient based on one or more quality factors. For each object that is evaluated as other than acceptable, the method and apparatus creates, displays and possibly applies a quality recommendation for the objects.

Abstract: A real-time imaging and visualization method and system that allows multiple field-of-view imaging on multiple receiver channels is disclosed. The method and system implement a semi-bit reversed modified phase-encoding scheme to acquire identical data over all receiver channels, and to reconstruct independently on each channel an image thereby providing multiple FOV images. The method and system provide for real-time catheter tracking where separate receiver channels collect anatomical roadmap data, guidewire data, and catheter data. The present invention uses a loopless antenna to acquire projection images thereby allowing the entire antenna and structures within its diameter of sensitivity to appear as a bright signal and a long narrow connected region. The present invention allows for very narrow FOV imaging for guidewire and catheter channels as well as full FOV imaging for roadmap image reconstruction.

Abstract: A method of improving images is provided. A body of image data is collected and signal to noise (SNR) values thereof are determined. The collected data is converted into an electronic image representation X. Image X comprises a first array of pixel intensity values. Further, a low pass filtered image representation F comprising a second array of pixel intensity values is obtained. An improved electronic image representation P comprising a third array of pixel intensity values is generated by replacing each pixel intensity value of electronic image representation X by a linear combination of the replaced pixel intensity value from image X and the corresponding pixel intensity value from image F. An array of linear combination coefficients &agr;, (1−&agr;) determine the relative contributions of the replaced X pixel intensity value and the value of the corresponding pixel intensity from image F, respectively.

Abstract: An improved ROI segmentation image processing system substantially masks non-ROI image data from a digital image to produce a ROI segmented image for subsequent digital processing. The ROI segmentation image processing system is a computer-based system having a collimation subsystem configured to detect and mask out collimated regions within the image. Furthermore, a direct exposure (DE) subsystem is configured to detect and remove DE regions from the image. Holes generated in the image are filled-in to provide a resulting image with only ROI.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided for producing a smooth closed curve from a binary mask such as the type produced when segmenting various parts of a human body. Points defining the segmentation boundary are transformed into a set of polar coordinates. The set of coordinates is thresholded and averaged, and then smoothed using a window smoothing technique. The resulting boundary points are curve fit to produce the smooth closed curve.

Abstract: The watermark system and method. The watermark system includes a watermarking module for generating a half-tone image with a watermark (a watermarked halftone image) and a watermark recovery module for receiving a scanned image of a hard copy of the watermarked halftone image and recovering a watermark that is embedded in or specified by the scanned image. A print engine can be provided to receive the watermarked halftone image and generate a hard copy of the watermarked half-tone image. A scanner can be provided to scan a hard copy of a watermarked half-tone image and to generate a scanned image that can be provided to the watermark recovery module.

Abstract: A medical image transfer and control system of the present invention preferably utilizes a medical image snap-shot formatting device. This device generally includes a digital signal processor and a signal formatting component that is operably connected to the digital signal processor. The signal formatting component is designed to receive medical image snap-shot data from a camera and, if necessary, format the data to a digital format. The signal formatting component then forwards the digital data to the digital signal processor which operates to compress the data to a format suitable for transfer over a plain old telephone system (POTS).

Abstract: A method of detecting an embedded message in a digital image, the embedded message being embedded in periodic blocks in the image, including the steps of: selecting a first area in the digital image; selecting a second area in the digital image; performing a correlation between the first and the second image areas; and if the correlation exceeds an predetermined threshold value at at least one pixel location, producing a signal indicating the existence of embedded message in the digital image.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for processing images with regions representing target objects involves registering a first and a second image, where the second image contains a target object. The method comprises the steps of identifying a region in the second image containing one or more image data elements representing the target object, transforming the second image to reduce the size of the region containing the target object, and registering the first image and the second image. Another embodiment comprises the steps of identifying a region in the second image containing one or more image data elements representing a target object. After identifying this region, the first and second images are registered using a first transform component that filters one or more data elements in the second image that are contained in the identified region, and a second transform component that includes one or more data elements in the second image that are contained in the identified region.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining a texture which best matches an image (100) are provided. The method involves determination of an image feature value from the image (100), and determination of corresponding texture feature values for each member of a set of textures (106, 112). Thereafter the image feature value is compared with the corresponding texture feature values of each member of the set of textures (106, 112) to produce comparison values, from which the best comparison value is selected according to a rule. This best comparison value determines the coresponding desired matching texture.

Abstract: A method of resampling medical imaging data from a first spatial distribution of data points onto a second spatial distribution of data points. The method includes determining a matrix of coefficients for resampling data from the second spatial distribution onto the first spatial distribution and inverting a matrix based on the matrix of coefficients to determine forward resampling coefficients for resampling data from the first spatial distribution to the second spatial distribution. Then, resampling data from the first spatial distribution onto the second spatial distribution using the forward resampling coefficients.

Abstract: A computer-aided image diagnosis system having (1) a detection section for detecting an abnormal shadow candidate in a radiation image, based on image information representing the radiation image, (2) a switching section for switching a destination where a diagnostic image is output, in accordance with a result of the detection of the abnormal shadow candidate, and (3) an outputting section for outputting the diagnostic image which corresponds to the detection result.

Abstract: An IR image input section inputs an IR image of printed matter P1, using IR light having a near-infrared wavelength. An edge emphasizing section executes edge emphasizing processing on the IR image. A fold/wrinkle extracting section extracts pixels corresponding to a fold or a wrinkle from the edge-emphasized image, counts the number of the extracted pixels, measures the average density of the extracted pixels obtained when the IR image is input thereto, and outputs the number and the average density of the extracted pixels as feature quantity data. A determining section determines the soil degree of the printed matter P1 due to a fold or a wrinkle on the basis of the feature quantity data.

Abstract: Improved data embedding and extracting techniques provide a way to embed and extract messages in text sections of documents during copying. Extracted text pixels are grouped together to form text lines of the document. From this formation, a document layout is constructed that is used to embed the message in the text pixels. Each text line is partitioned into blocks, and those of which contain a certain threshold percentage of text pixels are identified as valid. Each valid block is used to embed one bit of information by labeling text pixels of that block with a certain predetermined color. The embedding of bits in valid blocks in a particular text line is done in a column-wise raster order. Only one message character (which may be comprised of multiple bits) is embedded in a particular text line, although that character may be embedded multiple times in the same line if there are enough valid blocks.