Yehoshua Y. Zeevi

Image enhancement and denoising by complex diffusion processes

The linear and nonlinear scale spaces, generated by the inherently real-valued diffusion equation, are generalized to complex diffusion processes, by incorporating the free Schrodinger equation. A fundamental solution for the linear case of the complex diffusion equation is developed. Analysis of its behavior shows that the generalized diffusion process combines properties of both forward and inverse diffusion. We prove that the imaginary part is a smoothed second derivative, scaled by time, when the complex diffusion coefficient approaches the real axis. Based on this observation, we develop two examples of nonlinear complex processes, useful in image processing: a regularized shock filter for image enhancement and a ramp preserving denoising process.

The farthest point strategy for progressive image sampling

A new method of farthest point strategy (FPS) for progressive image acquisition-an acquisition process that enables an approximation of the whole image at each sampling stage-is presented. Its main advantage is in retaining its uniformity with the increased density, providing efficient means for sparse image sampling and display. In contrast to previously presented stochastic approaches, the FPS guarantees the uniformity in a deterministic min-max sense. Within this uniformity criterion, the sampling points are irregularly spaced, exhibiting anti-aliasing properties comparable to those characteristic of the best available method (Poisson disk). A straightforward modification of the FPS yields an image-dependent adaptive sampling scheme. An efficient O(N log N) algorithm for both versions is introduced, and several applications of the FPS are discussed.

Integrated active contours for texture segmentation

We address the issue of textured image segmentation in the context of the Gabor feature space of images. Gabor filters tuned to a set of orientations, scales and frequencies are applied to the images to create the Gabor feature space. A two-dimensional Riemannian manifold of local features is extracted via the Beltrami framework. The metric of this surface provides a good indicator of texture changes and is used, therefore, in a Beltrami-based diffusion mechanism and in a geodesic active contours algorithm for texture segmentation. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with that of the edgeless active contours algorithm applied for texture segmentation. Moreover, an integrated approach, extending the geodesic and edgeless active contours approaches to texture segmentation, is presented. We show that combining boundary and region information yields more robust and accurate texture segmentation results.

Variational denoising of partly textured images by spatially varying constraints

Denoising algorithms based on gradient dependent regularizers, such as nonlinear diffusion processes and total variation denoising, modify images towards piecewise constant functions. Although edge sharpness and location is well preserved, important information, encoded in image features like textures or certain details, is often compromised in the process of denoising. We propose a mechanism that better preserves fine scale features in such denoising processes. A basic pyramidal structure-texture decomposition of images is presented and analyzed. A first level of this pyramid is used to isolate the noise and the relevant texture components in order to compute spatially varying constraints based on local variance measures. A variational formulation with a spatially varying fidelity term controls the extent of denoising over image regions. Our results show visual improvement as well as an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio over scalar fidelity term processes. This type of processing can be used for a variety of tasks in partial differential equation-based image processing and computer vision, and is stable and meaningful from a mathematical viewpoint

Sparse ICA for blind separation of transmitted and reflected images

We address the problem of recovering a scene recorded through a semireflecting medium (i.e. planar lens), with a virtual reflected image being superimposed on the image of the scene transmitted through the semirefelecting lens. Recent studies propose imaging through a linear polarizer at several orientations to estimate the reflected and the transmitted components in the scene. In this study we extend the sparse ICA (SPICA) technique and apply it to the problem of separating the image of the scene without having any a priori knowledge about its structure or statistics. Recent novel advances in the SPICA approach are discussed. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methods.© 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Estimation of optimal PDE-based denoising in the SNR sense

This paper is concerned with finding the best partial differential equation-based denoising process, out of a set of possible ones. We focus on either finding the proper weight of the fidelity term in the energy minimization formulation or on determining the optimal stopping time of a nonlinear diffusion process. A necessary condition for achieving maximal SNR is stated, based on the covariance of the noise and the residual part. We provide two practical alternatives for estimating this condition by observing that the filtering of the image and the noise can be approximated by a decoupling technique, with respect to the weight or time parameters. Our automatic algorithm obtains quite accurate results on a variety of synthetic and natural images, including piecewise smooth and textured ones. We assume that the statistics of the noise were previously estimated. No a priori knowledge regarding the characteristics of the clean image is required. A theoretical analysis is carried out, where several SNR performance bounds are established for the optimal strategy and for a widely used method, wherein the variance of the residual part equals the variance of the noise

Blind deconvolution of images using optimal sparse representations

The relative Newton algorithm, previously proposed for quasi-maximum likelihood blind source separation and blind deconvolution of one-dimensional signals is generalized for blind deconvolution of images. Smooth approximation of the absolute value is used as the nonlinear term for sparse sources. In addition, we propose a method of sparsification, which allows blind deconvolution of arbitrary sources, and show how to find optimal sparsifying transformations by supervised learning.

Regularized Shock Filters and Complex Diffusion

We address the issue of regularizing Osher and Rudins shock filter, used for image deblurring, in order to allow processes that are more robust against noise. Previous solutions to the problem suggested adding some sort of diffusion term to the shock equation. We analyze and prove some properties of coupled shock and diffusion processes. Finally we propose an original solution of adding a complex diffusion term to the shock equation. This new term is used to smooth out noise and indicate inflection points simultaneously. The imaginary value, which is an approximated smoothed second derivative scaled by time, is used to control the process. This results in a robust deblurring process that performs well also on noisy signals.

Blind source separation using multinode sparse representation

The blind source separation problem is concerned with extraction of the underlying source signals from a set of their linear mixtures, where the mixing matrix is unknown. It was discovered recently, that exploiting the sparsity of sources in their representation according to some signal dictionary, dramatically improves the quality of separation. It is especially useful in image processing problems, wherein signals possess strong spatial sparsity. We use multiscale transforms, such as wavelet or wavelet packets, to decompose signals into sets of local features with various degrees of sparsity. We use this intrinsic property for selecting the best (most sparse) subsets of features for further separation. Experiments with 1D signals and images demonstrate significant improvement of separation quality.

Image reconstruction from zero crossings

This study is concerned with the information in zero crossings (ZC) of images. Logans conditions, specifying when a one-dimensional signal may be recovered (within a multiplicative constant) from its ZC, are extended for various cases of two-dimensional signals. An algorithm is implemented in reconstruction of context-free band-pass images. It is also successfully applied in reconstruction of contextual images by first dissecting the image into appropriate bandpass-band-limited two-dimensional signals. In almost all cases of spectrum confined to less than an octave in one dimension, the reconstruction algorithm converges, whereas it does not converge for any signal exceeding one octave in bandwidth. This paper substantiates the proposition that images are well represented by the partial information confined to ZC.