Motion compensated image averaging

Abstract

A method is provided for averaging a sequence of image frames. A noise-reducing filter is applied to the image frames to generate filtered frames. A deconvolution filter is applied to the filtered frames to generate corresponding deconvolved frames. The filtered frames are transformed by an affine transformation to align them, generating aligned frames. The aligned frames are motion corrected by non-linear transformation based on intensity rank matching, generating a sequence of motion-corrected frames. The motion-corrected frames are averaged to generate a resultant frame.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to US Provisional Application 60 / 924,162, filed May 2, 2007, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. technical field

[0003] The present invention relates to image averaging and, in particular, to averaging over sequences of image frames requiring noise filtering and motion correction. Background technique

[0004] Often it is necessary or desirable to average multiple images taken from the same object to obtain an averaged image with improved quality (eg with reduced noise). Conventional techniques for averaging image frames do not provide good or satisfactory results in certain situations, eg, when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is very low and object motion is imaged while taking different image frames. For example, intravital fluorescence images of the murine retina can be obtained based on a technique using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mouse m...

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