Handbook of Speckle Filtering and Tracking in Cardiovascular Ultrasound Imaging and Video

Ultrasound imaging technology has experienced a dramatic change in the last 30 years. Because of its non-invasive nature and continuing improvements in image quality, ultrasound imaging is progressively achieving an important role in the assessment and characterization of cardiovascular imaging. Speckle is inherent in ultrasound imaging giving rise to a granular appearance instead of homogeneous, flat shades of gray, as is visible and as such, speckle can severely compromise interpretation of ultrasound images, particularly in discrimination of small structures. On the other hand, speckle can be used in the detection of time varying phenomena, or tracking tissue motion. The objective of this book is to provide a reference edited volume covering the whole spectrum of speckle phenomena, theoretical background and modelling, algorithms and selected applications in cardiovascular ultrasound imaging and video processing and analysis. The book is organized under the following four parts, Part I: Introduction to Speckle Noise; Part II: Speckle Filtering; Part III: Speckle Tracking; Part IV: Selected Applications in Cardiovascular Imaging.

Christos P. Loizou is an Adjunct Professor of medical imaging and video processing at the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.

Constantinos S. Pattichis is a Professor with the Department of Computer Science of the University of Cyprus. He serves as Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, and as member of the IEEE EMBS Technical Committee on Information Technology for Health. He is a Fellow of IEEE, IET and IAMBE.

Jan D'hooge is a Professor in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences of the Medical Faculty of the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is member of IEEE and Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferro-Electrics and Frequency Control.