The fundamental step in video content analysis is the temporal segmentation of video stream into shots, which is known as Shot Boundary Detection (SBD). The sudden transition from one shot to another is known as Abrupt Transition (AT), whereas if the transition occurs over several frames, it is called Gradual Transition (GT). A unified framework for the simultaneous detection of both AT and GT have been proposed in this article. The proposed method uses the multiscale geometric analysis of Non-Subsampled Contourlet Transform (NSCT) for feature extraction from the video frames. The dimension of the feature vectors generated using NSCT is reduced through principal component analysis to simultaneously achieve computational efficiency and performance improvement. Finally, cost efficient Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) classifier is used to classify the frames of a given video sequence based on the feature vectors into No-Transition (NT), AT and GT classes. A novel efficient method of training set generation is also proposed which not only reduces the training time but also improves the performance. The performance of the proposed technique is compared with several state-of-the-art SBD methods on TRECVID 2007 and TRECVID 2001 test data. The empirical results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Background and Objective: Content based medical image retrieval (CBMIR) systems enable fast diagnosis through quantitative assessment of the visual information and is an active research topic over the past few decades. Most of the state-of-the-art CBMIR systems suffer from various problems: computationally expensive due to the usage of high dimensional feature vectors and complex classifier/clustering schemes. Inability to properly handle the "semantic gap" and the high intra-class versus inter-class variability problem of the medical image database (like radiographic image database). This yields an exigent demand for developing highly effective and computationally efficient retrieval system.Methods: We propose a novel interactive two-stage CBMIR system for diverse collection of medical radiographic images. Initially, Pulse Coupled Neural Network based shape features are used to find out the most probable (similar) image classes using a novel "similarity positional score" mechanism. This is followed by retrieval using Non-subsampled Contourlet Transform based texture features considering only the images of the pre-identified classes. Maximal information compression index is used for unsupervised feature selection to achieve better results. To reduce the semantic gap problem, the proposed system uses a novel fuzzy index based relevance feedback mechanism by incorporating subjectivity of human perception in an analytic manner.Results: Extensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed CBMIR system on a subset of Image Retrieval in Medical Applications (IRMA)-2009 database consisting of 10,902 labeled radiographic images of 57 different modalities. We obtained overall average precision of around 98% after only 2-3 iterations of relevance feedback mechanism. We assessed the results by comparisons with some of the state-of-the-art CBMIR systems for radiographic images.Conclusions: Unlike most of the existing CBMIR systems, in the proposed two-stage hierarchical framework, main importance is given on constructing efficient and compact feature vector representation, search-space reduction and handling the "semantic gap" problem effectively, without compromising the retrieval performance. Experimental results and comparisons show that the proposed system performs efficiently in the radiographic medical image retrieval field. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this article, we propose a novel multimodal Medical Image Fusion (MIF) method based on a neuro-fuzzy technique in the transform (Non-Subsampled Shearlet Transform (NSST)) domain for spatially registered, multi-modal medical images. The source medical images are first decomposed by NSST. The low-frequency subbands (LFSs) are fused using the Max-selection rule. Fuzzy triangular memberships are derived from a specific neighborhood-region of each high-frequency coefficient. Then they (high-frequency subbands, HFSs) are fused using a biologically inspired neural network (Pulse Coupled Neural Network (PCNN)) according to our newly proposed rule. Then inverse NSST (INSST) is applied to the fused coefficients to get the fused image. Visual and quantitative analysis and comparisons with state-of-the-art MIF techniques show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in fusing multimodality medical images.

A novel improved Non-local Means (NLM) filtering scheme for MR images is proposed based on a simplified pulse-coupled neural network (PCNN) which follows mammal's visual/perceptual response characteristics. The proposed scheme is a two-stage filtering technique. In the first stage, the noisy MR image is passed through a PCNN and the firing time output (time signature) of the PCNN is recorded. The time signature is used to pre-select a subset of pixels in non-local vicinities, depending on their similarities with the pixel of interest. In the second stage, improved unbiased NLM (IUNLM) is applied to denoise the pixel of interest only considering the contributions of the pre-selected subset of pixels in the non-local vicinities. Extensive experiments and comparisons with state-of-the-art MRI denoising techniques were carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. The results suggest supporting evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in MR image denoising.

The title of the paper in reference (S. Das and M. K. Kundu, "A neuro-fuzzy approach for medical image fusion," IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., vol. 60, no. 12, pp. 3347–3353) should have read "A note on grey level-intensity transformation: effect on HVS thresholding."

The widely used feature representation scheme for magnetic resonance (MR) image classification based on low-frequency subband (LFS) coefficients of wavelet transform (WT) is ineffective in presence of common MR imaging (MRI) artifacts (small rotation, low dynamic range etc.). The directional information present in the high-frequency subbands (HFSs) can be used to improve the performance. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the newly developed multiscale geometric analysis (MGA) tools (curvelet, contourlet, and ripplet etc.) in classifying brain MR images. In this paper, we compare various multiresolution analysis (MRA)/MGA transforms, such as traditional WT, curvelet, contourlet and ripplet, for brain MR image classification. Both the LFS and the high-frequency subbands (HFSs) are used to construct image representative feature vector invariant to common MRI artifacts. The investigations include the effect of different decomposition levels and filters on classification performance. By comparing results, we give the best candidate for classifying brain MR images in presence of common artifacts.

We present a novel Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) scheme for natural color images using Multi-scale Geometric Analysis (MGA) of Ripplet Transform (RT) Type-I in the statistical framework based on Generalized Gaussian Density (GGD) model and Kullback-Leibler Distance (KLD). The system is based on modeling the marginal distributions of RT coefficients by GGD framework and computing the similarity between the model parameters using the KLD. Least Square-Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) classifier is used to classify the images of the database. Extensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system on two image databases consisting 1000 (Simplicity) and 2788 (Oliva) images, respectively. Experimental results and comparisons show that the proposed CBIR system performs efficiently in image retrieval field.

In this article, we have proposed a blind, fragile and Region of Interest (ROI) lossless medical image watermarking (MIW) technique, providing an all-in-one solution tool to various medical data distribution and management issues like security, content authentication, safe archiving, controlled access retrieval, and captioning. The proposed scheme combines lossless data compression and encryption technique to embed electronic health record (EHR)/DICOM metadata, image hash, indexing keyword, doctor identification code and tamper localization information in the medical images. Extensive experiments (both subjective and objective) were carried out to evaluate performance of the proposed MIW technique. The findings offer suggestive evidence that the proposed MIW scheme is an effective all-in-one solution tool to various issues of medical information management domain. Moreover, given its relative simplicity, the proposed scheme can be applied to the medical images to serve in many medical applications concerned with privacy protection, safety, and management.

This paper addresses a novel approach to the multimodal medical image fusion (MIF) problem, employing multiscale geometric analysis of the nonsubsampled contourlet transform and fuzzy-adaptive reduced pulse-coupled neural network (RPCNN). The linking strengths of the RPCNNs' neurons are adaptively set by modeling them as the fuzzy membership values, representing their significance in the corresponding source image. Use of the RPCNN with a less complex structure and having less number of parameters leads to computational efficiency-an important requirement of point-of-care health care technologies. The proposed scheme is free from the common shortcomings of the state-of-the-art MIF techniques: contrast reduction, loss of image fine details, and unwanted image degradations, etc. Subjective and objective evaluations show better performance of this new approach compared to the existing techniques.

We propose an automatic and accurate technique for classifying normal and abnormal magnetic resonance (MR) images of human brain. Ripplet transform Type-I (RT), an efficient multiscale geometric analysis (MGA) tool for digital images, is used to represent the salient features of the brain MR images. The dimensionality of the image representative feature vector is reduced by principal component analysis (PCA). A computationally less expensive support vector machine (SVM), called least square-SVM (LS-SVM) is used to classify the brain MR images. Extensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. Two benchmark MR image datasets and a new larger dataset were used in the experiments, consisting 66, 160 and 255 images, respectively. The generalization capability of the proposed technique is enhanced by 5 x 5 cross validation procedure. For all the datasets used in the experiments, the proposed system shows high classification accuracies (on an average > 99%). Experimental results and performance comparisons with state-of-the-art techniques, show that the proposed scheme is efficient in brain MR image classification.

In this article, we have proposed a novel Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) system, where each image in the database is represented by a compact image signature which is computed using the Nonsubsampled Contourlet Transform (NSCT) and Fuzzy-C-means (FCM) technique. To improve the retrieval accuracy, the proposed system incorporates Least Square Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) based classifier, Earth Mover's Distance (EMD) and Relevance Feedback Mechanism (RFM). Extensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system on SIMPLIcity image database consisting of 1000 images. Experimental results and comparisons show that the proposed CBIR system performs efficiently in image retrieval domain.

In this article, a novel content based image retrieval (CBIR) system based on a new Multiscale Geometric Analysis (MGA)-tool, called Ripplet Transform Type-I (RT) is presented. To improve the retrieval result, a fuzzy relevance feedback mechanism (F-RFM) is also implemented. Fuzzy entropy based feature evaluation mechanism is used for automatic computation of revised feature's importance and similarity distance at the end of each iteration. Experimental results on a large image database demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed CBIR system in the image retrieval paradigm

Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) system is an emerging research area in effective digital data management paradigm. In this article, a novel CBIR system based on a new Multiscale Geometric Analysis (MGA)-tool, called Ripplet Transform Type-I (RT) is presented. To improve the retrieval result and to decrease the computational cost, the proposed scheme consists of a Neural Network (NN) based classifier for image pre-classification, similarity matching using Manhattan distance measure and relevance feedback mechanism (RFM) using fuzzy entropy based feature evaluation technique. Extensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Experimental results and comparisons show that the proposed CBIR system performs efficiently.

In this article, a novel multimodal medical image fusion (MIF) method based on non-subsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) and pulse-coupled neural network (PCNN) is presented. The proposed MIF scheme exploits the advantages of both the NSCT and the PCNN to obtain better fusion results. The source medical images are first decomposed by NSCT. The low-frequency subbands (LFSs) are fused using the 'max selection' rule. For fusing the high-frequency subbands (HFSs), a PCNN model is utilized. Modified spatial frequency in NSCT domain is input to motivate the PCNN, and coefficients in NSCT domain with large firing times are selected as coefficients of the fused image. Finally, inverse NSCT (INSCT) is applied to get the fused image. Subjective as well as objective analysis of the results and comparisons with state-of-the-art MIF techniques show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in fusing multimodal medical images.

Medical Data Management (MDM) domain consists of various issues of medical information like authentication, security, privacy, retrieval and storage etc. Medical Image Watermarking (MIW) techniques have recently emerged as a leading technology to solve the problems associated with MDM. This paper proposes a blind, Contourlet Transform (CNT) based MIW scheme, robust to high JPEG and JPEG2000 compression and simultaneously capable of addressing a range of MDM issues like medical information security, content authentication, safe archiving and controlled access retrieval etc. It also provides a way for effective data communication along with automated medical personnel teaching. The original medical image is first decomposed by CNT. The Low pass subband is used to embed the watermark in such a way that enables the proposed method to extract the embedded watermark in a blind manner. Inverse CNT is then applied to get the watermarked image. Extensive experiments were carried out and the performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated through both subjective and quantitative measures. The experimental results and comparisons, confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed technique in the MDM paradigm.

This paper presents a Content Based Medical Image Retrieval (CBMIR) system for diverse collection of radiographic images. Non-Subsampled Contourlet Transform (NSCT) and Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) technique is used to construct the image signature which is used as the image representative feature vector. Least Square-Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) and Earth Mover's Distance (EMD) is used to classify the images. Preliminary studies on a radiographic image Database (DB) consisting 1550 images of 31 different modalities show promising result.

The motivation behind fusing multimodality, multi- resolution images is to create a single image with improved interpretability. In this paper, we propose a novel multimodality Medical Image Fusion (MIF) method, based on Ripplet Transform Type-I (RT) for spatially registered, multi-sensor, multi-resolution medical images. RT is a new Multi-scale Geometric Analysis (MGA) tool, capable of resolving two dimensional (2D) singularities and representing image edges more e-ciently. The source medical images are flrst transformed by discrete RT (DRT). Difierent fusion rules are applied to the difierent subbands of the transformed images. Then inverse DRT (IDRT) is applied to the fused coe-cients to get the fused image. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated by various quantitative measures like Mutual Information (MI), Spatial Frequency (SF), and Entropy (EN) etc. Visual and quantitative analysis shows, that the proposed technique performs better compared to fusion scheme based on Contourlet Transform (CNT).

This paper describes a non-blind, imperceptible and highly robust hybrid Medical Image Watermarking (MIW) technique for a range of medical data management issues. The method simultaneously addresses medical information security, content authentication, safe archiving and controlled access retrieval. We propose the use of Contourlet Transform (CLT) followed by the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) to achieve higher robustness and imperceptibility. Experimental results and performance comparisons confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed scheme.