Minicomputer enhancement of scintillation camera images using fast Fourier transform techniques

Minicomputer methods were developed to enhance lesions in scintillation camera images. This study was directed towards improving the diagnostic quality of liver images. A PDP-12 digital computer was interfaced to a Pho/Gamma HP III scintillation camera and programmed to carry out two-dimensional frequency-domain analysis and processing as an on-line operation. A two-dimensional frequency spectrum is produced. An interactive program allows the operator to construct graphically a frequency-domain filter and apply it to the data matrix. The filter is optimized using the image of a known phantom and then applied unchanged to the clincial liver image. An inverse Fourier transform produces an enhances image in the spatial domain. Significant enhancement of both phantom and liver images has been obtained.