Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and
Professor of Radiology
Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981
Key Words:
Medical Imaging, Doppler Imaging Techniques, Digital Halftoning, 3D/4D
Medical Imaging, Image Processing
Research Interests:
Projects are under way in a number of areas related to
medical imaging, digital imaging, halftoning, and novel scanning techniques
using Doppler shift effects. These are built on the fundamentals of wave
propagation combined with signal and image processing techniques.
Sonoelasticity Imaging
This is a novel hybrid imaging technique which uses Doppler ultrasound
to map out, or image, the local vibrations within tissues or structures
which are excited by externally applied oscillations at low frequencies
(10-1000 Hz typically). The concept is that stiff tumors surrounded by
soft tissues will present abnormal vibration amplitudes and can therefore
be detected.
(http://www.ece.rochester.edu/projects/sonoelasticity).
Three-Dimensional (3-D) Medical Imaging
The major imaging modalities (CT, MRI, and Ultrasound) are now capable
of 3-D data acquisition. The visualization, segmentation and quantification
of 3-D, low-contrast tissues requires many advanced techniques. Our group
has developed multidimensional processing and display techniques for
3-D / 4-D medical images.
Digital Halftoning of Medical Images
A particular black and white pixel pattern, called 'blue noise" is
thought to be ideal for binary representation of grevy scale images. We
have developed an approach which simultaneously constrains the first and
second order statistics of a halftone screen, which can provide substantial
speed and has quality advantages compared to previous methods. The specially
constructed halftone screen, called a "Blue Noise Mask," produces
an isotropic, unstructured, visually pleasing pattern of black and white
pixels in halftone images. Applications to color halftoning are under
development. (http://www.ece.rochester.edu/projects/blue_noise_mask)
