IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MEDICAL IMAGING, VOL. 20, NO.
3, MARCH 2001
Book Review_____________________________________________________________________________
Handbook of Medical Imaging - Processing and Analysis Isaac
N. Bankman, Ed., 1st edition, 901 pages, Academic Press, New York,
2000 Reviewed by Ge. Wang
Medical imaging may be divided into two major components:
image formation and image analysis. Medical image analysis becomes
increasingly important in matching the results of image acquisition
with specific domain requirements where the unprocessed original
images are complex, numerous, or contain subtle features. The
“Handbook of Medical Imaging - Processing and Analysis”, edited
by Isaac N. Bankman and a team of six section editors, provides an
overview of medical image analysis with tutorials on practical or
emerging methods. This handbook focuses on analysis of medical
images of all types, and consists of 53 chapters in six sections by
about 100 authors. Both established and cutting-edge algorithms are
grouped into six sections: enhancement, segmentation, quantification,
registration, visualization, and compression. Each section is briefly
introduced in a 2-3 page preface without references. The chapter
authors are active researchers and known experts from all over the
world. The editor, Isaac N. Bankman, is supervisor of the Imaging
and Laser Systems Section at the Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory (Baltimore, MD). He received the Ph.D. degree
in Biomedical Engineering from the Technion University of Israel,
Haifa, in 1985, and is active in the SPIE, OSA, and IEEE.
I. ENHANCEMENT
This section is the shortest among the six sections, consisting of four
chapters (66 pages). In this section, the authors discuss classic algo-
rithms and advanced adaptive filtering, multiscale nonlinear and hybrid
filtering methods. Among these methods, the multiscale wavelet-based
operators discussed in the last two chapters seem most powerful.
II. SEGMENTATION
This section contains nine chapters (146 pages). The fundamentals
are presented and representative approaches described, including fuzzy
clustering, neural networks, deformable models, hybrid segmentation,
followed by discussions on volumetric and partial volume segmenta-
tion. Chapters 8–10 deal with deformable model-based segmentation,
are well written, and are of particular interest to me.
III. QUANTIFICATION
This section consists of 12 chapters (210 pages). Texture analysis is
emphasized, followed by shape analysis, computational anatomy, mor-
phometry and computer aided diagnosis. These methods are applied in
neuroanatomy, musculoskeletal systems, mammography, and cardiac
imaging. Image interpolation and re-sampling are covered.
IV. REGISTRATION
This section is the largest, consisting of 15 chapters (224 pages).
The central issue is handling of image distortions such as in magnetic
resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, and merging
different images for synergistic presentations. Feature extraction and
Manuscript received February 15, 2001.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0278-0062(01)04722-X.
0278-0062/01$10.00 © 2001 IEEE
249
spatial transformation are exposed in detail. Within-modality, cross-
modality, multidimensional frameworks are all described. Validation
studies on registration accuracy are reported.
V. VISUALIZATION
This section includes five chapters (100 pages). The history and cur-
rent status of visualization and display are summarized. Commonly
used rendering methods are introduced. Virtual endoscopy is described.
My preference would be to enlarge this section, given its importance
and the plethora of novel post-processing techniques reported over the
past several years.
VI. COMPRESSION, STORAGE, AND COMMUNICATION
This last section contains eight chapters (136 pages). Industry stan-
dards for compression and digital image communication are defined
for medical image archive and retrieval, with an emphasis on picture
archiving and communication systems (PACS). Image quality evalu-
ation is addressed in terms of diagnostic accuracy and statistics. The
wavelet compression scheme is emphasized. Finally, medical image
processing and analysis software packages are surveyed.
The handbook is valuable for researchers in image processing and
computer vision who need an up-to-date review on medical image anal-
ysis. Generally speaking, the book does not prepare an interested engi-
neer from another subspecialty to fully understand key topics in med-
ical imaging. However, this handbook is an intermediary step that al-
lows the nonspecialist or student to learn the vocabulary and discover
some important applications in medical image analysis. This handbook
does not promise to provide a comprehensive survey and overview of
every topic. Take virtual colonoscopy for example. The corresponding
chapter was written by an outstanding researcher in the field, Ronald
Summers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He places an em-
phasis on morphometric methods, which represents an area where he
has made unique and important contributions. However, other key is-
sues are not covered in detail, such as colon segmentation, center-
line tracking, computer aided diagnosis of polyps, interpretation of the
image results, design of clinical trials, specialized workstation strate-
gies, and the controversies in the field. It would be necessary to look
beyond the handbook for more specialized information, but this chapter
would prepare the reader to consult the literature with a much greater
chance for success. As another example, the chapter on shape transfor-
mations does not contain any equations. The handbook conspicuously
omits a detailed discussion of statistical shape modeling, which may
have been considered too esoteric or specialized to merit coverage in
detail, despite the strong interests of biologists and morphometricians
in this topic.
This handbook lacks an overview chapter that introduces medical
image analysis and explains why it makes sense to divide it into these
six categories. There is a preface, but an overview of the entire med-
ical image analysis field is so important to the reader that it merits a
chapter of its own. The handbook is not categorized according to the
application domain. In other words, we might divide medical imaging
according to modality or organ system or disease. This handbook does
not use any of these for its organization. If the reader is interested in
any specific modality, you would have to read each and every chapter to
determine whether the topic is relevant or not. The index is not helpful.
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The same problem exists for any given organ system or disease. You
cannot directly link them to specific chapters. Also, there are neither
CD-ROM demos nor a website associated with the book.
On the other hand, if you are trained in image processing, for ex-
ample, after introductory courses on these topics, you would find this
handbook to be a gold mine of information on how the fundamen-
tals that you just learned from the theoretical perspective are used in
medical applications. The organization of the handbook is natural for
anyone who has studied basic image processing and pattern recogni-
tion. This handbook does not prepare you to tackle specific problems,
however. It is an intermediate step between a general knowledge and
clinical research. This handbook can serve as a gateway to access the
relevant literature and acquire some of the essential vocabulary used in
medical imaging.
This handbook does not require great mathematical sophistication.
Any practicing engineer should be able to fully understand the hand-
book without additional references. It should also be clear that there
are large areas of medical imaging that are not included. These include
imaging physics, image reconstruction, noise and artifact reduction,
for example. With this handbook, the reader will be able to identify
the principal tools and methods of medical image analysis and many of
their applications. Given the depth and diversity of the medical imaging
field, it is not realistic to expect that a single book would cover every
topic of importance. However, several more theoretical topics might
have been covered or explored in this book, such as image restoration,
signal/image separation, dynamic image analysis, and image modeling.
Some sophisticated mathematical approaches, either well developed
or newly emerged, are not included. As a positive consequence of this
omission, a large readership is assured for this book. However, the
power and the potential of more complex methods cannot be overes-
timated, such as hidden Markov field theory for image modeling, dif-
ferential equation techniques for image restoration, multiscale space
methods for image analysis, differential geometry for image visualiza-
tion, global pattern theory for image registration and recognition.
This handbook may be compared with similar recent compendia of
image processing methods and applications. The SPIE Handbook of
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MEDICAL IMAGING, VOL. 20, NO. 3, MARCH 2001
Medical Imaging1 and Image Processing Handbook2 are comparable
examples. The SPIE handbook is mathematically most sophisticated,
while the CRC handbook is most readable and technically most ef-
fectively presented for widest readership, since it treats topics beyond
medical imaging. The Bankman handbook lies between its peers. Any
multiauthored text is subject to quality variation. However, changes
from chapter to chapter in this handbook are greater than one would
expect in terms of mathematical and physical levels of presentation.
Generally speaking, the handbook is well integrated. The tables
and figures are effective. Each chapter can be read independently
with chapter-dependent prerequisites, which should be consistent to
the background of graduate students of biomedical, electrical and
computer engineering, and that of researchers in the medical imaging
field. If you cannot find the time to read the whole volume (and few
will be able to digest these 900 pages), you can just pick a chapter and
gain extensive information on current algorithms and recent advances
in medical image processing. As a handbook, there was no expectation
that it would be read in any particular order, and since the chapters
and sections are largely independent, this goal is well served. If you
are interested in any of the topics treated in the handbook, you can
enter at almost any point. The references cited are comprehensive and
up to date. Even well-established researchers will benefit, as the book
outlines the state-of-the-art and future directions, so it will serve well
in teaching these topics. The editors and the authors should be pleased
with the results of their work leading to an up-to-date compendium
of reviews and tutorials. This handbook is highly recommended for
engineers, physicists and practitioners who work or will enter the fast
growing field of medical image analysis.
1M. Sonka and J. M. Fitzpatrick, Eds. Handbook of Medical Imaging II: Med-
ical Image Processing and Analysis, (Bellingham, WA: SPIE Press, 2000, pp.
200).
2J. C. Russ, Ed. The Image Processing Handbook, 3rd ed. (Boca Raton, FL:
CRC Press, 1998, pp. 800).