Wavelet/TSVQ image coding with segmentation

The use of region-based coding is explored with a wavelet/TSVQ structure. Several methods of generating the segmentation map are discussed, including a recursive segmentation procedure that does not require any side information. The method is investigated on computerized tomographic chest scans, where the images are segmented into three regions-the background, the chest wall region, and the chest organs region. The background is considered of no importance, the chest wall region is considered of low importance, and the chest organs region is considered of high importance. At 0.20 bits per pixel, region-based coding provides a 2.0 dB improvement in the chest organs region at the expense of degradation in the clinically less relevant regions.