RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Pressure ulcers have become subject of study in recent years due to the treatment high costs and decreased life quality from patients. These chronic wounds are related to the global life expectancy increment, being the geriatric and physical disable patients the principal affected by this condition. Injuries diagnosis and treatment usually takes weeks or even months by medical personel. Using non-invasive techniques, such as image processing techniques, it is possible to conduct an analysis from ulcers and aid in its diagnosis. METHODS: This paper proposes a novel technique for image segmentation based on contrast changes by using synthetic frequencies obtained from the grayscale value available in each pixel of the image. These synthetic frequencies are calculated using the model of energy density over an electric field to describe a relation between a constant density and the image amplitude in a pixel. A toroidal geometry is used to decompose the image into different contrast levels by variating the synthetic frequencies. Then, the decomposed image is binarized applying Otsu's threshold allowing for obtaining the contours that describe the contrast variations. Morphological operations are used to obtain the desired segment of the image. RESULTS: The proposed technique is evaluated by synthesizing a Data Base with 51 images of pressure ulcers, provided by the Centre IGURCO. With the segmentation of these pressure ulcer images it is possible to aid in its diagnosis and treatment. To provide evidences of technique performance, digital image correlation was used as a measure, where the segments obtained using the methodology are compared with the real segments. The proposed technique is compared with two benchmarked algorithms. The results over the technique present an average correlation of 0.89 with a variation of ±0.1 and a computational time of 9.04 seconds. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology presents better segmentation results than the benchmarked algorithms using less computational time and without the need of an initial condition.

Assuntos

Processamento de Imagem Assistida por Computador/métodos , Úlcera por Pressão/diagnóstico por imagem , Algoritmos , Humanos

RESUMO

Recently we proposed an alternative method of displacement analysis in vortex metrology, based on the application of the Fourier optics techniques, that is suitable for an intermediate range of displacement measurements ranging below the resolution of speckle photography and above that of the conventional vortex metrology. However, for smaller displacements, we introduce an approach to perform the Fourier analysis from vortex networks. In this work, we present an enhanced method for measuring uniform in-plane displacements, taking advantage of the capability of determining the subpixel locations of vortices and having the ability to track the homologous vortices onto a plane. It is shown that high-quality fringe systems can be synthesized and analyzed to accurately measure in an extended range of displacements and for highly decorrelated speckle patterns. Experimental results supporting the validity of the method are presented and discussed.

RESUMO

In this work, we introduce an alternative method of analysis in vortex metrology based on the application of the Fourier optics techniques. The first part of the procedure is conducted as is usual in vortex metrology for uniform in-plane displacement determination. On the basis of two recorded intensity speckled distributions, corresponding to two states of a diffuser coherently illuminated, we numerically generate an analytical signal from each recorded intensity pattern by using a version of the Riesz integral transform. Then, from each analytical signal, a two-dimensional pseudophase map is generated in which the vortices are located and characterized in terms of their topological charges and their core's structural properties. The second part of the procedure allows obtaining Young's interference fringes when Fourier transforming the light passing through a diffracting mask with multiple apertures at the locations of the homologous vortices. In fact, we use the Fourier transform as a mathematical operation to compute the far-field diffraction intensity pattern corresponding to the multiaperture set. Each aperture from the set is associated with a rectangular hole that coincides both in shape and size with a pixel from recorded images. We show that the fringe analysis can be conducted as in speckle photography in an extended range of displacement measurements. Effects related with speckled decorrelation are also considered. Our experimental results agree with those of speckle photography in the range in which both techniques are applicable.