British Journal of Radiology (2006) 79, 540
© 2006 British Institute of Radiology
doi:
Computer imaging: digital image analysis and processing. By S E Umbaugh. pp. 696, 2005 (CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL), £38.99 ISBN 0-8493-2919-1
C J Martin
This is a comprehensive text-book dealing with all aspects of the acquisition and processing of visual information by computer. The treatment given is oriented towards application of the techniques and examples are taken from a wide range of fields, which includes medical imaging but deals with other areas such as the entertainment industry and space exploration. The book is intended primarily for use by university students and staff in teaching image processing courses or research, but will be useful for professionals working in the commercial sector, government research or the health service. The book is designed for use by scientists and engineers. It is well written and a strong computing background is not required in order to gain a conceptual understanding of the subject from the book. However, far more can be gained if the reader has computing and programming skills. Tutorial exercises are included with each chapter to provide hands-on experience and enable the reader to gain insight into the use of various image analysis and processing algorithms. The book is illustrated throughout with images to demonstrate the effects of the processing techniques described. Since the book is not specifically aimed at the medical sector, it is not a book to dip into to find the techniques applicable to a particular aspect of medical imaging, but rather to obtain a grounding in image analysis and processing techniques.
The book is divided into four sections. The introduction to computer imaging presents a global picture to enable the reader to gain an understanding of the overall process. It contains the basic concepts required to understand computer imaging, including optics, imaging analysis and presentation. The second and third sections on digital image analysis and image processing make up over three-quarters of the text. Section 2 describes the tools, concepts and models required for analysing digital images, including segmentation, transforms and feature analysis. Section 3 on image processing starts with visual perception and discusses the application of processing images for human consumption, including topics such as enhancement, restoration and compression. Section 4 contains information on computer vision and image processing tools software developed at the author's department. A windows version of the software is on a CD accompanying the book. This has a menu-driven user interface to facilitate applications and is designed to allow the reader to apply the algorithms. A knowledge of C and C++ programming will allow the user to develop the algorithms further for their own applications.
The book provides a valuable text for those wishing to study and develop skills in image analysis and processing. It differs from other texts by including an insight into the application of the techniques in many different fields.
