With the development of rapidly increasing medical imaging modalities and their applications, the need for computers and computing in image generation, processing, visualization, archival, transmission, modeling, and analysis has grown substantially. Computers are being integrated into almost every medical imaging system. Medical Image Analysis and Informatics demonstrates how quantitative analysis becomes possible by the application of computational procedures to medical images. Furthermore, it shows how quantitative and objective analysis facilitated by medical image informatics, CBIR, and CAD could lead to improved diagnosis by physicians. Whereas CAD has become a part of the clinical workflow in the detection of breast cancer with mammograms, it is not yet established in other applications. CBIR is an alternative and complementary approach for image retrieval based on measures derived from images, which could also facilitate CAD. This book shows how digital image processing techniques can assist in quantitative analysis of medical images, how pattern recognition and classification techniques can facilitate CAD, and how CAD systems can assist in achieving efficient diagnosis, in designing optimal treatment protocols, in analyzing the effects of or response to treatment, and in clinical management of various conditions. The book affirms that medical imaging, medical image analysis, medical image informatics, CBIR, and CAD are proven as well as essential techniques for health care.
