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Extended Query Refinement for Medical Image Retrieval

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Abstract

The impact of image pattern recognition on accessing large databases of medical images has recently been explored, and content-based image retrieval (CBIR) in medical applications (IRMA) is researched. At the present, however, the impact of image retrieval on diagnosis is limited, and practical applications are scarce. One reason is the lack of suitable mechanisms for query refinement, in particular, the ability to (1) restore previous session states, (2) combine individual queries by Boolean operators, and (3) provide continuous-valued query refinement. This paper presents a powerful user interface for CBIR that provides all three mechanisms for extended query refinement. The various mechanisms of man–machine interaction during a retrieval session are grouped into four classes: (1) output modules, (2) parameter modules, (3) transaction modules, and (4) process modules, all of which are controlled by a detailed query logging. The query logging is linked to a relational database. Nested loops for interaction provide a maximum of flexibility within a minimum of complexity, as the entire data flow is still controlled within a single Web page. Our approach is implemented to support various modalities, orientations, and body regions using global features that model gray scale, texture, structure, and global shape characteristics. The resulting extended query refinement has a significant impact for medical CBIR applications.

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Acknowledgement

This work was performed within the image retrieval in medical applications (IRMA) project, which is supported by the German Research Community (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), grants Le 1108/4 and Le 1108/6. For further information, visit http://irma-project.org. The authors would also like to acknowledge the helpful comments of the reviewers that improved this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Thomas M. Deserno Ph. D..

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Deserno, T.M., Güld, M.O., Plodowski, B. et al. Extended Query Refinement for Medical Image Retrieval. J Digit Imaging 21, 280–289 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-007-9037-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10278-007-9037-4

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