A task-specific evaluation of three-dimensional image interpolation techniques

Image interpolation is an important operation that is widely used in medical imaging, image processing and computer graphics. A variety of interpolation methods are available in the literature. However, their systematic evaluation is lacking. In a previous paper (ibid., vol. 15, pp. 881-92, Dec. 1996), we presented a framework for the task-independent comparison of interpolation methods based on certain image-derived figures of merit using a variety of medical image data pertaining to different parts of the human body taken from different modalities. In this work, we present an objective task-specific framework for evaluating interpolation techniques. The task considered is how the interpolation methods influence the accuracy of quantification of the total volume of lesions in the brain of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. 60 lesion detection experiments coming from ten patient studies, two subsampling techniques and the original data, and three interpolation methods were carried out, along with a statistical analysis of the results.