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US 5644662
Multiple processing of radiographic images based on a pyramidal image decomposition
Current assignee: Agfa HealthCare NV
Added 9/24/2026, 2:08:56 AM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US5644662A
Title: Multiple processing of radiographic images based on a pyramidal image decomposition
Patent number: US5644662A
Application number: US08/412,355
Inventor: Pieter Paul Vuylsteke
Original assignee: Agfa Gevaert NV (later reassigned to Agfa HealthCare NV)
Prior art date: 1993-02-11
Filing date: 1995-03-28
Publication/grant date: 1997-07-01
Legal status: Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 2014-07-01)
Purpose: The invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing multiple differently processed digital images, particularly for medical radiographic imaging systems such as computed radiography or computed tomography.
Plain-language scope: The patent describes decomposing a digital radiographic image into a multiresolution representation — a sequence of detail images at multiple resolution levels plus a residual image — where the decomposition is pyramidal (pixel counts decrease at coarser levels). The representation is stored and retrieved so the same image can undergo at least two different processing types, or two cycles of the same processing at different degrees. Processing may include noise filtering, contrast enhancement, edge enhancement, data compression, and the like. A processed image is reconstructed by applying an inverse reconstruction algorithm to the modified representation, such that applying it to the unmodified representation would return the original image or a close approximation. Decomposition options include low-pass filtering with subsampling (preferably factor 2, with a Gaussian-approximating filter) or a transform using continuous, non-periodic basis functions with zero mean, such as discrete wavelets. Different images originating from one original may be combined into a display or hard copy.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US5644662](/patent/US5644662)/en
What the excerpt does not establish: The supplied text is an excerpt and omits portions of the description (including part of the FIG. 4 discussion and the claims). It does not provide claim language, a complete list of prior-art references, prosecution history, or details of the 2007 reassignment.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:40:47 PM
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