Region-based retrieval of biomedical images
James Z. Wang · 2000
Searching digital biomedical images is a challenging problem. Prevalent retrieval techniques involvehuman-supplied text annotations to describe image contents. Biomedical images, such as pathology slides, usually have higher resolution than general-purpose pictures, making it additionally di#cult to index. Precise object segmentation is also extremely di#cult and is still an open problem. We are developing a multiresolution region-based retrieval system for high-resolution biomedical image databases. The system, based on wavelets, the IRM #Integrated Region Matching# distance, and image classi#cation, is highly robust to inaccurate image segmentation and various visual alterations. Tested on a database of more than 70,000 pathology image fragments, the system has demonstrated high accuracy and fast speed.