Hybrid DWT-DCT algorithm for biomedical image and video compression applications

Digital image and video in their raw form require an enormous amount of storage capacity. Considering the important role played by digital imaging and video in medical and health science, it is necessary to develop a system that produces high degree of compression while preserving critical image/video information. In this paper, we present a hybrid algorithm that performs the discrete cosine transform on the discrete wavelet transform coefficients. Simulation has been carried out on several medical and endoscopic images and videos. The results show that the proposed hybrid algorithm performs much better in term of peak-signal-to-noise-ratio with a higher compression ratio compared to standalone DCT and DWT algorithms. The scheme is intended to be used as the image/video compressor engine in medical imaging and video applications, such as, telemedicine and wireless capsule endoscopy.