A desirable content-based image retrieval (CBIR) system would classify extracted image features to support some form of semantic retrieval. The Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, an intramural R&D division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), maintains an archive of digitized x-rays of the cervical and lumbar spine taken as part of the second National Health and Nu...

Noise filtering is a common step in image processing, and is particularly effective in improving the subjective quality of images. A large number of techniques have been developed, many of which concentrate on the problem of removing noise without damaging small structures such as edges. One recent approach that demonstrates empirical merit is the non-local means (NLM) algorithm. However, in or...

Efficient content-based image retrieval of biomedical images is a challenging problem of growing research interest. Feature representation algorithms used in indexing medical images on the pathology of interest have to address conflicting goals of reducing feature dimensionality while retaining important and often subtle biomedical features. At the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Com...

Recent research has uncovered many examples of genetically identical organisms that display distinct, dynamic phenotypes. For example, single-cell studies have revealed cell-to-cell variability in expression of key regulatory proteins in bacteria [1,2] and stress response pathways in yeast [3-5]. Although methods such as flow cytometry can measure population diversity at the single-cell level, ...

This article describes the participation of the Image and Text Integration (ITI) group from the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) in the ImageCLEF 2010 medical retrieval track. Our methods encompass a variety of techniques relating to document summarization and textand content-based image retrieval. Our text-based approaches utilize the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) synonymy to i...

The aim of this study was to evaluate trends in body image among Icelandic adolescents from 1997 to 2010. Data from five cross-sectional surveys conducted among national samples of 9th and 10th graders in Iceland using five time points (1997, 2000, 2006, 2009, and 2010) were compared to examine changes in body image. In total, 32,397 adolescents participated in the study. Body image among 14-15...

The Visible Human project by National Library of Medicine (NLM) resulted in two sets of cryosection images of a human male (VHM): low (LR) and high (HR) resolution. By leveraging the already registered and segmented LR images, we have successfully achieved the same for the entire HR image set. 3D models of human anatomical structures generated using this HR image set, presented in this paper, p...

In this paper we compare two segmentation techniques, a parameter-free variant of the watershed algorithm and a new robust method based on adaptive contours. To test them, we use a set of fluorescence in-situ hybridisation images of leucocyte nuclei: these images were obtained in realistic conditions of mass screening, and do not meet the prerequisites of usual segmentation methods. We present ...

In this paper, a new approach is presented for improving image quality. It provides a new outlook on how to apply the enhancment methods on images. Image enhancement techniques may deal with the  illumination, resolution, or distribution of pixels values. Issues such as the illumination of the scene and reflectance of objects affect on image captures. Generally, the pixels value of an image is ...

This paper describes the Twin-Otter SAR Testbed developed at Sandia National Laboratories. This SAR is a flexible, adaptable testbed capable of operation on four frequency bands: Ka, Ku, X, and VHF/UHF bands. The SAR features real-time image formation at fine resolution in spotlight and stripmap modes. High-quality images are formed in real time using the overlapped subaperture (OSA) image-form...