This invention relates generally to image processing. More particularly, the invention relates to correcting image misalignment, where the misalignment is due at least in part to sample movement.
In modern medical practice, it is useful to analyze a sequence of images of in vivo tissue obtained throughout the course of a diagnostic medical procedure. For example, in screening for some forms of cervical cancer, a chemical agent is applied to cervical tissue and the optical response of the tissue is captured in a sequence of colposcopic images. The tissue is characterized by analyzing the time-dependent response of the tissue, as recorded in the sequence of images. During this type of diagnostic procedure, the tissue may move while images are being taken, resulting in a spatial shift of the tissue within the image frame field. The tissue movement may be caused by the natural movement of the patient during the procedure, which can occur even though the patient attempts to remain completely still. Accurate analysis of the sequence of images may require that the images be adjusted prior to analysis to compensate for misalignment caused at least in part by patient movement.
There is currently a method of stabilizing an electronic image by generating a motion vector which represents the amount and direction of motion occurring between consecutive frames of a video signal. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,274 to Kondo. However, this method accounts for certain gross movements of a video camera—in particular, certain vibrations caused by the operator of a handheld camcorder. The method does not compensate for misalignment caused by movement of a sample. For example, such a method could not be used to adequately correct an image misalignment caused by the small-scale movement of a patient during a diagnostic procedure.
Another image stabilization method is based on detecting the physical movement of the camera itself. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,071 to MacKay, which describes the use of a gimbaled ring assembly that moves as a camera is physically jittered. These types of methods cannot be used to correct misalignments caused by the movement of a sample.
The invention provides methods of correcting misalignments between sequential images of a sample. The invention is particularly useful for correcting image misalignment due to movement of the sample between images and/or during image acquisition. The invention also allows for real-time, dynamic image alignment for improved optical diagnosis and assessment.
In a preferred embodiment, the invention comprises determining an x-displacement and a y-displacement corresponding to a misalignment between two images of a tissue sample, where the misalignment is caused by a shift in the position of the sample with respect to the image frame field. For example, in obtaining a sequence of images of an in-situ tissue sample, an embodiment of the invention makes it possible to correct for small image misalignments caused by unavoidable patient motion, such as motion due to breathing. It has been discovered that validating misalignment corrections improves the accuracy of diagnostic procedures that use data from sequential images, particularly where the misalignments are small and the need for accuracy is great. Thus, methods of the invention comprise validating misalignment corrections by splitting individual images into smaller subimages, determining displacement between these subimages, and comparing the subimage displacements to the overall image displacement. Alternatively, validation may comprise adjusting two images according to a misalignment correction, then determining displacement between corresponding subimages and comparing these displacements with a threshold maximum value.
It has also been discovered that application of a chemical contrast agent, such as acetic acid, prior to or during acquisition of a sequence of tissue images enhances the detection of small-scale image misalignment by increasing intra-image contrast of the tissue images. The enhanced contrast of the tissue features recorded in the images allows for more accurate motion correction determination, since enhanced features may serve as landmarks in determining values of displacement.
Both misalignment correction determination and validation may be performed such that an accurate adjustment is made for a misalignment before an entire sequence of images is obtained. This allows, for example, “on the fly” adjustment of a camera while a diagnostic exam is in progress. Thus, corrections may be determined, validated, and accurately adjusted for as misalignments occur, reducing the need for retakes and providing immediate feedback as to whether an examination is erroneous. Automatic adjustment may be accomplished by adjusting aspects of the optical interrogation of the sample using a misalignment correction value. Adjustments may be performed, for example, by adjusting aspects of transmission and/or reception of electromagnetic energy associated with the sample. This may include, for example, transmitting a correction signal to a galvanometer system or a voice coil to “null out” a misalignment by adjusting the position of a mirror or other component of the camera obtaining the images according to the correction signal. Alternatively, or additionally, adjustments may be performed by electronically adjusting an aspect of an image, for example, the frame and/or bounds of an image, according to a misalignment correction value, or by performing any other appropriate adjustment procedure.
Applications of methods of the invention include the processing and analysis of a sequence of images of biological tissue. For example, chemical agents are often applied to tissue prior to optical measurement in order to elucidate physiological properties of the tissue. In one embodiment, acetic acid is applied to cervical tissue in order to whiten the tissue in a way that allows enhanced optical discrimination between normal tissue and certain kinds of diseased tissue. The acetowhitening technique, as well as other diagnostic techniques, and the analysis of images and spectral data obtained during acetowhitening tests are described in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/099,881, filed Mar. 15, 2002, and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/243,535 entitled, “Method and Apparatus for Identifying Spectral Artifacts,” filed Sep. 13, 2002, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
A typical misalignment between two images is less than about 0.55-mm within a two-dimensional, 480×500 pixel image frame field covering an area of approximately 25-mm×25-mm. These dimensions provide an example of the relative scale of misalignment versus image size. In some instances it is only necessary to compensate for misalignments of less than about one millimeter within the exemplary image frame field defined above. In other cases, it is necessary to compensate for misalignments of less than about 0.3-mm within the exemplary image frame field above. Also, the dimensions represented by the image frame field, the number of pixels of the image frame field, and/or the pixel resolution may differ from the values shown above.
A misalignment correction determination may be inaccurate, for example, due to any one or a combination of the following: non-translational sample motion such as rotational motion, local deformation, and/or warping; changing features of a sample such as whitening of tissue; and image recording problems such as focus adjustment, missing images, blurred or distorted images, low signal-to-noise ratio, and computational artifacts. Validation procedures of the invention identify such inaccuracies. The methods of validation may be conducted “on-the-fly” in concert with the methods of determining misalignment corrections in order to improve accuracy and to reduce the time required to conduct a given test.
Once an image misalignment is detected, an embodiment provides for automatically adjusting an optical signal detection device, such as a camera. For example, a camera may be adjusted “on-the-fly” to compensate for misalignments as images are obtained. This improves accuracy and reduces the time required to conduct a given test.
The optical signal detection device comprises a camera, a spectrometer, or any other device which detects optical signals. The optical signal may be emitted by the sample, diffusely reflected by the sample, transmitted through the sample, or otherwise conveyed from the sample. The optical signal comprises light of wavelength falling in a range between about 190-nm and about 1100-nm. One embodiment comprises obtaining one or more of the following from one or more regions of the tissue sample: fluorescence spectral data, reflectance spectral data, and video images.
Methods comprise analysis of a sample of human tissue, such as cervical tissue. Methods of the invention also include analysis of other types of tissue, such as non-cervical tissue and/or nonhuman tissue. For example, methods comprise analysis of one or more of the following types of tissue: colorectal, gastroesophageal, urinary bladder, lung, skin, and any other tissue type comprising epithelial cells.
A common source of misalignment is movement of a sample. Methods comprise the steps of: obtaining a plurality of sequential images of a sample using an optical signal detection device; determining a correction for a misalignment between two or more of the sequential images, where the misalignment is due at least in part to a movement of the sample; and compensating for the misalignment by automatically adjusting the optical signal detection device.
The two or more sequential images may be consecutive, or they may be nonconsecutive. In one embodiment, a misalignment correction is identified between a first image and a second image, where the second image is subsequent to the first image. The first image and second image may be either consecutive or nonconsecutive.
Identifying a misalignment correction may involve data filtering. For example, some methods comprise filtering a subset of data from a first image of a plurality of sequential images. A variety of data filtering techniques may be used. In one embodiment, Laplacian of Gaussian filtering is performed. Identifying a misalignment may comprise preprocessing a subset of data from the first image prior to filtering. For example, color intensities may be converted to gray scale before filtering. In some embodiments, filtering comprises frequency domain filtering and/or discrete convolution in the space domain.
In order to identify a correction for a misalignment, preferred embodiments comprise computing a cross correlation using data from each of two of the plurality of sequential images. In some embodiments, computing a cross correlation comprises computing a product represented by Fi(u,v) F*j(u,v), where Fi(u,v) is a Fourier transform of data derived from a subset of data from a first image, i, of the plurality of sequential images, F*j(u,v) is a complex conjugate of a Fourier transform of data derived from a subset of data from a second image, j, of the plurality of sequential images, and u and v are frequency domain variables. In preferred embodiments, the computing of the cross correlation additionally comprises computing an inverse Fourier transform of the product represented by Fi(u,v)F*j(u,v).
A method of the invention comprises validating a correction for a misalignment determined between a first image and a second image. Validating a misalignment correction comprises defining one or more validation cells within a bounded image plane; computing for each validation cell a measure of displacement between two (or more) images bound by the image plane using data from the two images corresponding to each validation cell; and validating a correction for misalignment between the two images by comparing the validation cell displacements with the correction. Preferably, each validation cell comprises a subset of the bounded image plane. The two (or more) images may be consecutive images. In some embodiments, the validating step includes eliminating from consideration one or more measures of displacement for corresponding validation cells. For example, measures of displacement from validation cells determined to be likely to contribute to an erroneous validation result are eliminated in some embodiments. In some embodiments, identifying validation cells that are likely to contribute to an erroneous validation result comprises calculating a sum squared gradient for at least one validation cell.
Methods of the invention comprise obtaining a plurality of sequential images of the sample during an application of a chemical agent to the sample. For example, the chemical agent comprises at least one of the following: acetic acid, formic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, Lugol's iodine, Shiller's iodine, methylene blue, toluidine blue, indigo carmine, indocyanine green, and fluorescein. Some embodiments comprise obtaining sequential images of the sample during an acetowhitening test.
In preferred embodiments, the movement of the sample is relative to the optical signal detection device and comprises at least one of the following: translational motion, rotational motion, warping, and local deformation.
One or more of the sequential images comprise measurements of an optical signal from the sample. The optical signal comprises, for example, visible light, fluoresced light, and/or another form of electromagnetic radiation.
Methods of the invention comprise determining a correction for misalignment between each of a plurality of pairs of images. Such methods comprise the steps of: obtaining a set of sequential images of a sample using an optical signal detection device; and determining a correction for a misalignment between each of a plurality of pairs of the sequential images, where at least one of the misalignments is due at least in part to a movement of the sample. The correction may then be used to compensate for each of the misalignments by automatically adjusting the optical signal detection device.
The obtaining step and the determining step may be performed alternately or concurrently, for example. One embodiment comprises determining a correction for a misalignment between a pair of the sequential images less than about 2 seconds after obtaining the latter of the pair of the sequential images. In another embodiment, this takes less than about one second.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a method of determining a correction for a misalignment that includes validating the correction. Methods comprise the steps of: obtaining a plurality of sequential images of a sample using an optical signal detection device; determining a correction for a misalignment between at least two of the sequential images; and validating the correction for misalignment between two of the images. An embodiment further comprises compensating for the misalignment by automatically adjusting the optical signal detection device according to the correction determined. In one embodiment, determining a misalignment correction between two images and validating the correction is performed in less than about one second.
Methods of the invention comprise compensating for a misalignment by determining a correction for a misalignment between a pair of images, validating the misalignment, and automatically realigning one of the pair of images. The realignment may be performed during the acquisition of the images, or afterwards.
The objects and features of the invention can be better understood with reference to the drawings described below, and the claims. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views.
In general, the invention provides methods of determining a correction for a misalignment between images in a sequence due to movement of a sample. These methods are useful, for example, in the preparation of a sequence of images for analysis, as in medical diagnostics.
In some diagnostic procedures, methods of the invention comprise applying an agent to a tissue in order to change its optical properties in a way that is indicative of the physiological state of the tissue. The rate and manner in which the tissue changes are important in the characterization of the tissue.
Certain embodiments of the invention comprise automated and semi-automated analysis of diagnostic procedures that have traditionally required analysis by trained medical personnel. Diagnostic procedures which use automatic image-based tissue analysis provide results having increased sensitivity and/or specificity. See, e.g., co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/099,881, filed Mar. 15, 2002, and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/243,535, entitled, “Method and Apparatus for Identifying Spectral Artifacts,” filed Sep. 13, 2002, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In order to facilitate such automatic analysis, it is often necessary to adjust for misalignments caused by sample movement that occurs during the diagnostic procedure. For example, during a given procedure, in vivo tissue may spatially shift within the image frame field from one image to the next due to movement of the patient. Accurate diagnosis requires that this movement be taken into account in the automated analysis of the tissue sample. In some exemplary embodiments, spatial shift correction made at the time images are obtained is more accurate than correction made after all the images are obtained, since “on-the-fly” corrections compensate for smaller shifts occurring over shorter periods of time, rather than larger, more cumulative shifts occurring over longer periods of time.
If a sample moves while a sequence of images is obtained, the procedure may have to be repeated. For example, this may be because the shift between consecutive images is too large to be accurately compensated for, or because a region of interest moves outside of a usable portion of the frame captured by the optical signal detection device. It is often preferable to compensate for misalignments resulting from sample movement during the collection of images rather than wait until the entire sequence of images has been obtained before compensating for misalignments. Stepwise adjustment of an optical signal detection device throughout image capture reduces the cumulative effect of sample movement. If adjustment is made only after an entire sequence is obtained, it may not be possible to accurately compensate for some types of sample movement. On-the-fly, stepwise compensation for misalignment reduces the need for retakes.
On-the-fly compensation may also obviate the need to obtain an entire sequence of images before making the decision to abort a failed procedure, particularly when coupled with on-the-fly, stepwise validation of the misalignment correction determination. For example, if the validation procedure detects that a misalignment correction determination is either too large for adequate compensation to be made or is invalid, the procedure may be aborted before obtaining the entire sequence of images. It can be immediately determined whether or not the obtained data is useable. Retakes may be performed during the same patient visit; no follow-up visit to repeat an erroneous test is required. A diagnostic test invalidated by excessive movement of the patient may be aborted before obtaining the entire sequence of images.
In preferred embodiments, a determination of misalignment correction is expressed as a translational displacement in two dimensions, x and y. Here, x and y represent Cartesian coordinates indicating displacement on the image frame field plane. In other embodiments, corrections for misalignment are expressed in terms of non-Cartesian coordinate systems, such as biradical, spherical, and cylindrical coordinate systems, among others. Alternatives to Cartesian-coordinate systems may be useful, for example, where the image frame field is non-planar.
Some types of sample motion—including rotational motion, warping, and local deformation—may result in an invalid misaligment correction determination, since it may be impossible to express certain instances of these types of sample motion in terms of a translational displacement, for example, in the two Cartesian coordinates x and y. It is noted, however, that in some embodiments, rotational motion, warping, local deformation, and/or other kinds of non-translational motion are acceptably accounted for by a correction expressed in terms of a translational displacement. The changing features of the tissue, as in acetowhitening, may also affect the determination of a misalignment correction. Image recording problems such as focus adjustment, missing images, blurred or distorted images, low signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. caused by glare), and computational artifacts may affect the correction determination as well. Therefore, validation of a determined correction is often required. In some embodiments, a validation step includes determining whether an individual correction for misalignment is erroneous, as well as determining whether to abort or continue the test in progress. Generally, validation comprises splitting at least a portion of each of a pair of images into smaller, corresponding units (subimages), determining for each of these smaller units a measure of the displacement that occurs within the unit between the two images, and comparing the unit displacements to the overall displacement between the two images.
In certain embodiments, the method of validation takes into account the fact that features of a tissue sample may change during the capture of a sequence of images. For example, the optical intensity of certain regions of tissue change during an acetowhitening test. Therefore, in preferred embodiments, validation of a misalignment correction determination is performed using a pair of consecutive images. In this way, the difference between the corresponding validation cells of the two consecutive images is less affected by gradual tissue whitening changes, as compared with images obtained further apart in time. In some embodiments, validation is performed using pairs of nonconsecutive images taken within a relatively short period of time, compared with the time in which the overall sequence of images is obtained. In other embodiments, validation comprises the use of any two images in the sequence of images.
In some exemplary embodiments, a determination of misalignment correction between two images may be inadequate if significant portions of the images are featureless or have low signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. are affected by glare). Similarly, validation using cells containing significant portions which are featureless or which have low signal-to-noise ratio may result in the erroneous invalidation of valid misalignment correction determinations in cases where the featureless portion of the overall image is small enough so that it does not adversely affect the misalignment correction determination. For example, analysis of featureless validation cells may produce meaningless correlation coefficients. One embodiment comprises identifying one or more featureless cells and eliminating them from consideration in the validation of a misalignment correction determination, thereby preventing rejection of a good misalignment correction.
A determination of misalignment correction may be erroneous due to a computational artifact of data filtering at the image borders. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, an image with large intensity differences between the upper and lower borders and/or the left and right borders of the image frame field undergoes Laplacian of Gaussian frequency domain filtering. Since Laplacian of Gaussian frequency domain filtering corresponds to cyclic convolution in the space-time domain, these intensity differences (discontinuities) yield a large gradient value at the image border, and cause the overall misalignment correction determination to be erroneous, since changes between the two images due to spatial shift are dwarfed by the edge effects. Certain embodiments employ pre-multiplication of image data by a Hamming window to remove or reduce this “wraparound error.” Preferred embodiments employ image-blending techniques such as feathering, to smooth any border discontinuity, while requiring only a minimal amount of additional processing time.
The determination of misalignment correction may be erroneous for any number of various reasons, including but not limited to non-translational sample motion (i.e. rotational motion, local deformation, and/or warping), changing features of a sample (i.e. whitening of tissue), and image recording problems such as focus adjustment, missing images, blurred or distorted images, low signal-to-noise ratio, and computational artifacts. Therefore, in preferred embodiments, validation comprises splitting an image into smaller units (called cells), determining displacements of these cells, and comparing the cell displacements to the overall displacement.
I=0.299R+0.587G+0.114B (1)
where I is the CCIR 601 “gray scale” intensity component, expressed in terms of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) intensities. CCIR 601 intensity may be used, for example, as a measure of the “whiteness” of a particular pixel in an image from an acetowhitening test. Different expressions for intensity may be used, and the choice may be geared to the specific type of diagnostic test conducted. In an alternative embodiment, a measure of radiant power as determined by a spectrometer may be used in place of the intensity component of Equation (1). Some embodiments comprise obtaining multiple types of optical signals simultaneously or contemporaneously; for example, some embodiments comprise obtaining a combination of two or more of the following signals: fluorescence spectra, reflectance (backscatter) spectra, and a video signal. Step 202 of
Step 204 of
where x and y are space coordinates and σ is the Gaussian standard deviation. In one preferred embodiment, an approximation to the LoG function is used. In the embodiments described herein, approximation kernels of size 9×9, 21×21, and 31×31 are used. The Gaussian standard deviation σ is chosen in certain preferred embodiments as shown in Equation (3):
σ=LoG filter size/8.49 (3)
where LoG filter size corresponds to the size of the discrete kernel approximation to the LoG function (i.e. 9, 21, and 31 for the approximation kernels used herein). Other embodiments employ different kernel approximations and/or different values of Gaussian standard deviation.
The LoG filter size may be chosen so that invalid scans are failed and valid scans are passed with a minimum of error. Generally, use of a larger filter size is better at reducing large structured noise and is more sensitive to larger image features and larger motion, while use of a smaller filter size is more sensitive to smaller features and smaller motion. One embodiment of the invention comprises using more than one filter size, adjusting to coordinate with the kind of motion being tracked and the features being imaged.
Step 204 of
Steps 206 and 208 of
Similarly, steps 212 and 214 of
Steps 210 and 216 of
Step 218 of
c(k,l)=ΣΣI1(p,q)I2(p−k,q−l) (4)
where variables (k,l) can be thought of as the shifts in each of the x- and y-directions which are being tested in a variety of combinations to determine the best measure of misalignment between two images I
Step 220 of
Step 222 of
Steps 224, 226, and 228 of
In
Step 226 of
where c′(m,n) is the normalized cross-correlation coefficient for the validation cell (m,n), m is an integer 1 to 4 corresponding to the column of the validation cell whose correlation coefficient is being calculated, n is an integer 1 to 4 corresponding to the row of the validation cell whose correlation coefficient is being calculated, p and q are matrix element markers, I1[p,q] are elements of the cell in column m and row n of the 128×128 portion of the realigned image shown in block 291 of
Step 232 of
In an illustrative embodiment, determinations of misalignment correction and validation of these determinations as shown in each of
Each of steps 228 and 234 of the embodiment of
In the exemplary embodiment above, validation is performed for each determination of misalignment correction by counting how many of the correlation coefficients c′r(m,n) shown in Equation (5), corresponding to the 16 validation cells, is less than 0.5. If this number is greater than 1, the exam in progress is aborted. Other embodiments may comprise the use of different validation rules. Gradual changes in image features, such as acetowhitening of tissue or changes in glare, cause discrepancies which are reflected in the correlation coefficients of the validation cells, but which do not represent a spatial shift. Thus, in preferred embodiments, the validation is performed as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, validation cells that are featureless or have low signal-to-noise ratio are eliminated from consideration. These cells can produce meaningless correlation coefficients. Featureless cells in a preferred embodiment are identified and eliminated from consideration by examining the deviation of the sum squared gradient of a given validation cell from the mean of the sum squared gradient of all cells as shown in the following exemplary rule:
Rule: If ssg1(m,n)<Mean[ssg(m,n)]−STD[ssg(m,n)], then set c′1(m,n)=1.0.
where c′1(m,n) is the correlation of the given validation cell “1”, ssg1(m,n)=ΣΣI12[p,q], m=1 to 4, n=1 to 4, I1[p,q] is the matrix of values of the given validation cell “1”, p=1 to 32, q=1 to 32, the summations ΣΣ are performed over pixel markers p and q, Mean[ssg(m,n)] is the mean of the sum squared gradient of all 16 validation cells, and STD[ssg(m,n)] is the standard deviation of the sum squared gradient of the given validation cell “1” from the mean sum squared gradient. By setting c′1(m,n)=1.0 for the given validation cell, the cell does not count against validation of the misalignment correction determination in the rubrics of either step 228 or step 234 of
If an image has large intensity differences between the upper and lower borders and/or the left and right borders of the image frame field, LoG filtering may result in “wraparound error.” A preferred embodiment employs an image blending technique such as “feathering” to smooth border discontinuities, while requiring only a minimal amount of additional processing time.
Feathering comprises removal of border discontinuities prior to application of a filter. In preferred embodiments, feathering is performed on an image before LoG filtering, for example, between steps 206 and 208 in
where I1′(x) and I2′(x) are the intensity functions I1(x) and I2(x) after applying the feathering algorithm of Equation (6), and d is the feathering distance chosen. The feathering distance, d, adjusts the tradeoff between removing wraparound error and suppressing image content.
Another method of border smoothing is multiplication of unfiltered image data by a Hamming window. In some embodiments, a Hamming window function is multiplied to image data before Fourier transformation so that the border pixels are gradually modified to remove discontinuities. However, application of the Hamming window suppresses image intensity as well as gradient information near the border of an image.
A skilled artisan knows other methods of smoothing border discontinuities. Another embodiment comprises removing cyclic convolution artifacts by zero padding the image prior to frequency domain filtering to assure image data at an edge would not affect filtering output at the opposite edge. This technique adds computational complexity and may increase processing time.
The effect of the filtering algorithm employed, as well as the choice of validation rules are examined by applying combinations of the various filtering algorithms and validation rules to pairs of sequential images of tissue and determining the number of “true positives” and “false positives” identified. A true positive occurs when a bad misalignment correction determination is properly rejected by a given validation rule. A false positive occurs when a good misalignment correction determination is improperly rejected as a failure by a given validation rule. The classification of a validation result as a “true positive” or a “false positive” is made by visual inspection of the pair of sequential images. In preferred embodiments, whenever true failures occur, the scan should be aborted. Some examples of situations where true failures occur in certain embodiments include image pairs between which there is one or more of the following: a large non-translational deformation such as warping or tilting; a large jump for which motion tracking cannot compute a correct translational displacement; rotation greater than about 3 degrees; situations in which a target laser is left on; video system failure such as blur, dark scan lines, or frame shifting; cases where the image is too dark and noisy, in shadow; cases where a vaginal speculum (or other obstruction) blocks about half the image; other obstructions such as sudden bleeding.
In one embodiment, a set of validation rules is chosen such that true positives are maximized and false positives are minimized. Sensitivity and specificity can be adjusted by adjusting choice of filtering algorithms and/or choice of validation rules. Table 1 shows the number of true positives (true failures) and false positives (false failures) determined by a validation rule as depicted in
For the given set of cervical image pairs on which the methods shown in Table 1 were applied, feathering performs better than Hamming windowing, since there are more true positives and fewer false positives. Among different LoG filter sizes, LoG 21 and LoG 31 performs better than LoG 9 for both tracking and validation here. The LoG 21 filter is more sensitive to rotation and deformation than the LoG 31 filter for these examples. Preferred embodiments for the determination and validation of misalignment corrections between 256×256 pixel portions of images of cervical tissue with pixel resolution of about 0.054-mm employ one or more of the following: (1) use of feathering for image border processing, (2) application of LoG 21 filter, (3) elimination of validation cells with low signal-to-noise ratio, and (4) use of consecutive images for validation.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/068,133, filed Feb. 5, 2002, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/738,614, filed Dec. 15, 2000, which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/170,972, filed Dec. 15, 1999; the present application also claims the benefit of the co-owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/414,767, entitled, “Methods and Systems for Correcting Image Misalignment”, by Schott et al., filed on Sep. 30, 2002. All of the above applications are assigned to the common assignee of this application and are hereby incorporated by reference.
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