Frame interpolation of ultrasound images using optical flow

Tae-Jin Nam; Rae-Hong Park

doi:10.1117/12.529204

21 May 2004 Frame interpolation of ultrasound images using optical flow

Tae-Jin Nam, Rae-Hong Park

Proceedings Volume 5299, Computational Imaging II; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.529204
Event: Electronic Imaging 2004, 2004, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

In this paper, we present a frame rate up-conversion method for ultrasound image enhancement. The inherent flexibility of ultrasound imaging and moderate cost without known bio-effects give ultrasound a vital role in the diagnostic process compared with other methods. The conventional mechanical scan method for multi-planar images has a slow frame rate. In the proposed frame rate-up conversion method, new interpolated frames are inserted between two input frames, giving smooth renditions to human eyes. Existing methods employing blockwise motion estimation show block artifacts, in which motion vectors are estimated using a block-matching algorithm (BMA). We propose an optical flow based method to find pixelwise intensity changes that yields more accurate motion estimates for frame interpolation. Consequently, the proposed method can provide detailed and improved images without block artifacts. Interpolated frames may contain hole or overlapped regions due to covered or uncovered areas in motion compensation. Those regions can be easily eliminated by a post processing, in which the similarity of pixel intensity is employed with a ray casting based method. Experimental results with several sets of ultrasound image sequences show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Citation Download Citation

Tae-Jin Nam and Rae-Hong Park "Frame interpolation of ultrasound images using optical flow", Proc. SPIE 5299, Computational Imaging II, (21 May 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.529204

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available