Image transmission system with patterned data compression
First Claim
1. An image storage, retrieval and transmission system comprisingmeans forming an initial digitized image,computer means storing said digitized image,telecommunication means linking said computer means to a remote visual display terminal, said telecommunication means comprising compression means including logic means togenerate a plurality of regions collectively representative of said image, each said region comprising a plurality of two dimensional, non-overlapping, symmetrically disposed supper pixels and tocompare each said region with a plurality of fictitious patterns, each said pattern having a dark region, a light region and a predetermined point of origin, and thereby to determine which of said plurality of fictitious patterns most closely correlates with said region and to generate a compressed digitized representation corresponding to said selected fictitious pattern, andwherein said remote visual display terminal includes means to generate and display an image corresponding to said fictitious pattern.
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Abstract
A storage, retrieval, and transmission system is configured to provide fast, efficient telecommunication access to digitized images (e.g., medical diagnostic X-ray images) to multiple requesting subscribers. Image data are downloaded, via the telephone lines, to a remote display terminal in an optimal fashion that employs a two-dimensional patterned data compression scheme. The data compression methods include a "Hex-Pac" compression in which one first generates regions comprising a plurality of two dimensional, non-overlapping, symmetrically disposed super pixels that are collectively representative of an image. Each of these regions is subsequently compared with a plurality of fictitious patterns, each of which has a dark region, a light region and a predetermined point of origin, in order to determine which of the patterns most closely correlates with the selected region.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An image storage, retrieval and transmission system comprising
means forming an initial digitized image, computer means storing said digitized image, telecommunication means linking said computer means to a remote visual display terminal, said telecommunication means comprising compression means including logic means to generate a plurality of regions collectively representative of said image, each said region comprising a plurality of two dimensional, non-overlapping, symmetrically disposed supper pixels and to compare each said region with a plurality of fictitious patterns, each said pattern having a dark region, a light region and a predetermined point of origin, and thereby to determine which of said plurality of fictitious patterns most closely correlates with said region and to generate a compressed digitized representation corresponding to said selected fictitious pattern, and wherein said remote visual display terminal includes means to generate and display an image corresponding to said fictitious pattern.
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20. A method of acquiring, storing, retrieving and displaying an image comprising the steps of
a) acquiring a said image having a first resolution, and translating said image to a predetermined digital format, b) storing said digitized image in a computer memory at a first location, c) requesting, from a user-operated terminal having a first resolution limit and located at a second location, a said digitized image, d) creating from said digitized image, at said first location a patterned and compressed representation thereof by means of a hexagonal pattern classification algorithm comprising the steps of d1) generating a plurality of regions collectively representative of said image, each said region comprising a plurality of two dimensional, non-overlapping, symmetrically disposed super pixels, d2) comparing each said region with a plurality of fictitious patterns, each said pattern having a dark region, a light region and a predetermined point of origin, d3) selecting that one of said plurality of fictitious patterns that most closely correlates with said each said region, e) transmitting from said first location to said terminal a first portion of said stored patterned representation, f) reconstructing, at said terminal, by means of a second algorithm, from said first portion of said patterned representation, a first displayable representation of said diagnostic image, said first displayable representation having a second resolution less than said first resolution, and g) displaying said displayable representation at said terminal.
Specification