Medical Images: Formation, Handling and Evaluation

Medical imaging is a very important area in diagnostic (and increasingly therapeutic) medicine. Many new techniques are being developed or extended which depend on digital methods. Although conventional x-radiographs still comprise the bulk of the medical images acquired in a hospital, digital methods such as computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are now often claimed to have a more significant clinical impact. This book is concerned with three aspects of such digital images: their formation, or how they can be acquired; their handling, or how they may be manipulated to increase their clinical value; and their evaluation, or how their impact and value may be assessed. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 comprises a series of reviews in the general subject area written by authorities in the field. Part 2 includes papers on theoretical aspects: 3D images, reconstruction, perception, and image processing. Part 3 includes papers on applications in nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance, and radiology.