Neighborhood evaluator for efficient super-resolution reconstruction of 2D medical images

Deep learning-based super-resolution (SR) algorithms aim to reconstruct low-resolution (LR) images into high-fidelity high-resolution (HR) images by learning the low- and high-frequency information. Experts' diagnostic requirements are fulfilled in medical application scenarios through the high-quality reconstruction of LR digital medical images.

Medical image SR algorithms should satisfy the requirements of arbitrary resolution and high efficiency in applications. However, there is currently no relevant study available. Several SR research on natural images have accomplished the reconstruction of resolutions without limitations. However, these methodologies provide challenges in meeting medical applications due to the large scale of the model, which significantly limits efficiency. Hence, we suggest a highly effective method for reconstructing medical images at any desired resolution.

Statistical features of medical images exhibit greater continuity in the region of neighboring pixels than natural images. Hence, the process of reconstructing medical images is comparatively less challenging. Utilizing this property, we develop a neighborhood evaluator to represent the continuity of the neighborhood while controlling the network's depth.

The suggested method has superior performance across seven scales of reconstruction, as evidenced by experiments conducted on panoramic radiographs and two external public datasets. Furthermore, the proposed network significantly decreases the parameter count by over 20× and the computational workload by over 10× compared to prior researches. On large-scale reconstruction, the inference speed can be enhanced by over 5×.

The novel proposed SR strategy for medical images performs efficient reconstruction at arbitrary resolution, marking a significant breakthrough in the field. The given scheme facilitates the implementation of SR in mobile medical platforms.