An image visualization tool in mammography.
The poor detectability of diagnostic mammographic features, due to their low contrast, is dealt with by a software visualization tool. The tool is domain specific to medical imaging and consequently mammographic imaging, and it is envisaged as part of medical image visualization and manipulation stations. Domain specificity is served by the tool conformance to DICOM 3.0 part 10 image format specifications, specifically PAPYRUS 3.0, window width/level display adjustments of image dynamic range of up to 16 bits, and application of visualization operations to user-defined regions of interest in addition to global operations. The software has been designed and implemented according to an object oriented approach in Visual C++. The tool user interface is friendly, based on a widely used windowing paradigm, the Microsoft Foundation Class library version 4.2, which provides interface items, such as windows, dialogue boxes, lists, slide bars, buttons, etc. The visualization functionality offered by the tool relies on the following three categories of image processing algorithms: dynamic range adjustments by pixel intensity transformations, contrast enhancement and noise suppression by spatial domain direct manipulation of image pixels or by manipulation of wavelet coefficients. The first two categories of algorithms are implemented in real time. Initial use of the tool has demonstrated its potential in improving the detectability of diagnostic mammographic image features.
Sakellaropoulos
P
P
Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Greece.
Costaridou
L
L
Panayiotakis
G
G
D000465:Algorithms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D011873:Radiology Information Systems; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface