Selective coding with controlled quality decay for 2D and 3D images in a JPEG2000 framework

This paper presents some ideas which extend the functionality and the application fields of a spatially selective coding within a JPEG2000 framework. At first, the image quality drop between the Regions of Interest (ROI) and the background (BG) is considered. In a conventional approach, the reconstructed image quality steeply drops along the ROI boundary; however, this effect could be considered or perceived objectionable in some use cases. A simple quality decay management is proposed here, which makes use of concentric ROI with different scaling factors. This allows the technique to be perfectly consistent with the JPEG2000 part 2 ROI definition and description. Another considered issue is the extension of the selective ROI coding to a 3D Volume of Interest coding. This extension is currently under consideration for the part 10 of JPEG2000, JP3D. An easy and effective 2D to 3D extension for the VOI definition and description is proposed here: a VOI is defined by a set composition of ROI generated solids, where ROI are defined along one or more volume cutting direction, and is described by the relative set of ROI parameters. Moreover, the quality decay management can be applied to this extension. The proposed techniques could have a significant impact on the selective coding of medical images and volumes. Image quality issues are very important but very critical factors in that field, which also constitutes the dominant market for 3D applications. Therefore, some experiments are presented on medical images and volumes in order evaluate the benefits of the proposed approaches in terms of diagnostic quality improvement with respect to a conventional ROI coding usage.