Improvement of videoflorographic images on swallowing using image processing

Abstract

This paper describes the study of a method of extracting a contrast medium in a low-contrast image of videofluorography （VF） for swallowing in a personal computer．

Histograrn analysis shows that pixel values for the regions of interest are distributed in different ways depending on the region； the pixel values for the oral cavity are distributed in the low range， and those for the pharynx in the midrange． An algorithm is therefore proposed in which difiierent types of contrast enhancement are applied depending on the region． The image of barium passing through the region connecting the mandible and the pharynx cannot be made distinct if the image has been processed as a whole． On the other hand，by changing the parameters of contrast enhancement depending on the region of interest， the image of barium is distinctly shown in each region． The image processing program applied separately to the three regions， the mandible， the pharynx and the esophagus， is shown to be usefu1 in clinical diagnosis．

It is suggested that conventional patient doses can be reduced by up to 45％ if the VF system installed with the newly proposed algorithm is used．