ROI mask embedded SPIHT algorithm for image coding

Region of interest (ROI) encoding is an important image encoding idea. This method solves the conflict between image quality and compression ratio, and it is appropriate to medical image encoding application. This paper presents a method of ROI encoding based on SPIHT. It adds ROI mask information instead of lifting the wavelet coefficients. The ROI is coded and transmitted in earlier stages with higher fidelity than the rest of the image, making the ROI takes precedence over other regions of the coding and transmission.