METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FORMING AN IMAGE WITH ENHANCED CONTRAST AND/OR REDUCED NOISE
First Claim
1. A method for generating images from projection data comprising:
- scanning an area using at least one data receiving element to obtain first values representing combined positional and recorded data;
each of said first values forming a point in an array of k data points;
the first point in the array representing the positional information and the recorded data obtained during the first increment;
the kth data point in the array representing the combined positional information and recorded data obtained by the at least one data receiving element during the kth increment;
where k is a number greater than 1;
removing approximately twenty to fifty percent of the data points from the array;
forming a first preliminary bit-mapped image using the reduced array of data points;
forming a second array by removing approximately twenty to fifty percent of the data points from the array;
forming a second preliminary bit-mapped image using the second array of data points;
generating a combined image by comparing each bit-mapped location of the first and second preliminary images and removing any pixel value which is greater in value at respective bit mapped locations to form a merged image of lesser or equal value pixels;
subsequently repeating the steps of removing approximately twenty to fifty percent of the data points from the array to form a reduced array, and forming a subsequent preliminary image from the reduced array, and generating a merged image by comparing the pixel values of the subsequent preliminary image to the preceding merged image, eliminating the greater values, and forming a subsequent combined image from the resulting lesser or equal pixel values;
whereby the steps are repeated over a series of iterations until the desired image resolution is obtained.
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Abstract
A method and system for generating images from projection data; a preferred embodiment comprising inputting projection data from at least one receiving element; generating a first aperture or array of data points containing positional and signal data; arbitrarily and/or randomly removing data points from the first array to form a series of subarrays comprising different sets of data points; generating preliminary images from the subarrays; comparing the corresponding image pixels from two preliminary images to determine for each pixel location the lesser or equal pixel values; forming a merged image from the lesser or equal pixel values; and repeating the comparison of corresponding image pixels of another preliminary image to the merged image to determine the lesser or equal pixel values until a merged image of the desired quality is obtained. A preferred embodiment of the system may comprise at least one processor, comparator and/or image generator.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for generating images from projection data comprising:
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scanning an area using at least one data receiving element to obtain first values representing combined positional and recorded data;
each of said first values forming a point in an array of k data points;
the first point in the array representing the positional information and the recorded data obtained during the first increment;
the kth data point in the array representing the combined positional information and recorded data obtained by the at least one data receiving element during the kth increment;
where k is a number greater than 1;removing approximately twenty to fifty percent of the data points from the array; forming a first preliminary bit-mapped image using the reduced array of data points; forming a second array by removing approximately twenty to fifty percent of the data points from the array; forming a second preliminary bit-mapped image using the second array of data points; generating a combined image by comparing each bit-mapped location of the first and second preliminary images and removing any pixel value which is greater in value at respective bit mapped locations to form a merged image of lesser or equal value pixels; subsequently repeating the steps of removing approximately twenty to fifty percent of the data points from the array to form a reduced array, and forming a subsequent preliminary image from the reduced array, and generating a merged image by comparing the pixel values of the subsequent preliminary image to the preceding merged image, eliminating the greater values, and forming a subsequent combined image from the resulting lesser or equal pixel values; whereby the steps are repeated over a series of iterations until the desired image resolution is obtained. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A signal processing system for removing unwanted noise in the generation of an image using electromagnetic signals comprising:
at least one receiving element for receiving signal data at different positions 1 though k; a processor for forming a first array of data points 1 though k;
each data point comprising positional information representing the location of the at least one receiving element and signal data received by the at least one receiving element;
the processor operating to remove a percentage of the data points from the first array in the range of approximately 20 to 50 percent to form a second array, and generate a first preliminary image from the second array;the processor operating to randomly or arbitrarily remove a percentage of data points in the range of 20 to 50 percent from the first array to form a series of arrays, each array in the series generally containing a substantially different set of data points; an image generator for generating preliminary images from each array in the series of arrays; a comparator for comparing the pixel values at each bitmapped location for at least two preliminary images and outputting the lesser or equal pixel value for each respective bitmapped location; the image generator operating to generate a merged image from the output of the comparator;
the comparator further operating to compare a series of preliminary images with a merged image iteratively;
each time outputting the lesser or equal pixel value for each respective bitmapped location to form a merged image and iteratively comparing another in the series of preliminary images with the merged image;a display for displaying the merged image. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A method for generating images from projection data comprising:
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inputting projection data from at least one receiving element; generating a first array comprising data points containing positional and signal data received from the at least one receiving element; arbitrarily removing data points from the first array to form a series of subarrays;
each subarray generally being composed of different sets of data points;generating preliminary images from the subarrays; comparing the corresponding bitmapped locations from two preliminary images to determine bitmapped locations to determine the lesser or equal pixel values; forming a merged image from the lesser or equal pixel values; comparing the corresponding bitmapped locations of another preliminary image to the merged image to determine the lesser or equal pixel values; and
forming a merged image from the lesser or equal pixel values;repeating the comparing of corresponding bitmapped locations of another preliminary image to the last merged image to form a subsequent merged image until the desired image quality is obtained. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification