Advances in Image Processing and Detection

A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Multimedia".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2024) | Viewed by 12852

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Automation & College of Artificial Intelligence, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China
Interests: pattern recognition; artificial intelligence; software engineering

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Guest Editor
Xiangjiang Laboratory, Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha 410205, China
Interests: pattern recognition; artificial intelligence; data processing and analysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vision is the primary channel for humans to obtain information, and images are the most common vision format. Image processing and detection have become very important research fields in the last decade with the fast development of visual communication technologies.  In recent years, various advanced image pre/processing, object detection, and feature learning methods have been developed, effectively supporting subsequent intelligent understanding, reasoning, and decision tasks. This Special Issue aims to encourage original papers that present high-quality research to address challenges in image processing and detection.

This Special Issue, “Advances in Image Processing and Detection”, invites original research and comprehensive reviews, including, but not limited to:

  1. Advanced image processing models;
  2. Advanced object detection models;
  3. Deep learning and machine learning models for image processing and detection;
  4. Pattern feature extraction;
  5. Multi-modality, cross-modal representation learning;
  6. Point cloud object detection;
  7. Image processing and detection for face recognition;
  8. Image processing and detection for person re-identification;
  9. Image processing and detection for image segmentation;
  10. Video signal processing and detection;
  11. Medical image processing;
  12. Privacy protection in image processing and detection;
  13. Parallel/distributed learning paradigms for image processing and detection.

Prof. Dr. Fei Wu
Dr. Xinyu Zhang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • image processing
  • object detection
  • deep learning
  • feature representation learning
  • multi-modality learning

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 17184 KiB  
Article
Dehaze-UNet: A Lightweight Network Based on UNet for Single-Image Dehazing
by Hao Zhou, Zekai Chen, Qiao Li and Tao Tao
Electronics 2024, 13(11), 2082; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13112082 - 27 May 2024
Viewed by 943
Abstract
Numerous extant image dehazing methods based on learning improve performance by increasing the depth or width, the size of the convolution kernel, or using the Transformer structure. However, this will inevitably introduce many parameters and increase the computational overhead. Therefore, we propose a [...] Read more.
Numerous extant image dehazing methods based on learning improve performance by increasing the depth or width, the size of the convolution kernel, or using the Transformer structure. However, this will inevitably introduce many parameters and increase the computational overhead. Therefore, we propose a lightweight dehazing framework: Dehaze-UNet, which has excellent dehazing performance and very low computational overhead to be suitable for terminal deployment. To allow Dehaze-UNet to aggregate the features of haze, we design a LAYER module. This module mainly aggregates the haze features of different hazy images through the batch normalization layer, so that Dehaze-UNet can pay more attention to haze. Furthermore, we revisit the use of the physical model in the network. We design an ASMFUN module to operate the feature map of the network, allowing the network to better understand the generation and removal of haze and learn prior knowledge to improve the network’s generalization to real hazy scenes. Extensive experimental results indicate that the lightweight Dehaze-UNet outperforms state-of-the-art methods, especially for hazy images of real scenes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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21 pages, 3094 KiB  
Article
Blood Cell Attribute Classification Algorithm Based on Partial Label Learning
by Junxin Feng, Qianhang Guo, Shiling Luo, Letao Chen and Qiongxiong Ma
Electronics 2024, 13(9), 1698; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13091698 - 27 Apr 2024
Viewed by 811
Abstract
Hematological morphology examinations, essential for diagnosing blood disorders, increasingly utilize deep learning. Blood cell classification, determined by combinations of cell attributes, is complicated by the complex relationships and subtle differences among the attributes, resulting in significant time and cost penalties. This study introduces [...] Read more.
Hematological morphology examinations, essential for diagnosing blood disorders, increasingly utilize deep learning. Blood cell classification, determined by combinations of cell attributes, is complicated by the complex relationships and subtle differences among the attributes, resulting in significant time and cost penalties. This study introduces the Partial Label Learning for Blood Cell Classification (P4BC) strategy, a method that trains neural networks using the blood cell attribute labeling data of weak annotations. Using morphological knowledge, we predefined candidate label sets for the blood cell attributes to blend this knowledge with deep learning. This improves the model’s prediction accuracy and interpretability in classifying attributes. This method effectively combines morphological knowledge with deep learning, an approach we refer to as knowledge alignment. It results in an 8.66% increase in attribute recognition accuracy and a 1.09% improvement in matching predictions to the candidate label sets, compared to the original method. These results confirm our method’s ability to grasp the characteristic information of blood cell attributes, enhancing the model interpretability and achieving knowledge alignment between hematological morphology and deep learning. Our algorithm ensures attribute classification accuracy and shows excellent cell category classification, highlighting its wide application potential and practical value in blood cell category classification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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23 pages, 8440 KiB  
Article
Efficient X-ray Security Images for Dangerous Goods Detection Based on Improved YOLOv7
by Yan Liu, Enyan Zhang, Xiaoyu Yu and Aili Wang
Electronics 2024, 13(8), 1530; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13081530 - 17 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1186
Abstract
In response to the problems of complex background, multi-scale dangerous goods and severe stacking in X-ray security images, this paper proposes a high-accuracy dangerous goods detection algorithm for X-ray security images based on the improvement of YOLOv7. Firstly, by combining the coordinate attention [...] Read more.
In response to the problems of complex background, multi-scale dangerous goods and severe stacking in X-ray security images, this paper proposes a high-accuracy dangerous goods detection algorithm for X-ray security images based on the improvement of YOLOv7. Firstly, by combining the coordinate attention mechanism, the downsampling structure of the backbone network is improved to enhance the model’s target feature localization ability. Secondly, a weighted bidirectional feature pyramid network is used as the feature fusion structure to achieve multi-scale feature weighted fusion and further simplify the network. Then, combined with dynamic snake convolution, a downsampling structure was designed to facilitate the extraction of features at different scales, providing richer feature representations. Finally, drawing inspiration from the idea of group convolution and combining it with Conv2Former, a feature extraction module called a multi-convolution transformer (MCT) was designed to enhance the network’s feature extraction ability by combining multi-scale information. The improved YOLOv7 in this article was tested on the public datasets SIXRay, CLCXray, and PIDray. The average detection accuracy (mAP) of the improved model was 96.3%, 79.3%, and 84.7%, respectively, which was 4.7%, 2.7%, and 3.1% higher than YOLOv7. This proves the effectiveness and universality of the method proposed in this article. Compared to the current mainstream X-ray image dangerous goods detection models, this model effectively reduces the false detection rate of dangerous goods in X-ray security inspection images and has achieved significant improvement in the detection of small and multi-scale targets, achieving higher accuracy in dangerous goods detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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13 pages, 2440 KiB  
Article
A RAW Image Noise Suppression Method Based on BlockwiseUNet
by Jing Xu, Yifeng Liu and Ming Fang
Electronics 2023, 12(20), 4346; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12204346 - 19 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1448
Abstract
Given the challenges encountered by industrial cameras, such as the randomness of sensor components, scattering, and polarization caused by optical defects, environmental factors, and other variables, the resulting noise hinders image recognition and leads to errors in subsequent image processing. In this study, [...] Read more.
Given the challenges encountered by industrial cameras, such as the randomness of sensor components, scattering, and polarization caused by optical defects, environmental factors, and other variables, the resulting noise hinders image recognition and leads to errors in subsequent image processing. In this study, we propose a RAW image denoising method based on BlockwiseUNet. By enabling local feature extraction and fusion, this approach enhances the network’s capability to capture and suppress noise across multiple scales. We conducted extensive experiments on the SIDD benchmark (Smartphone Image Denoising Dataset), and the PSNR/SSIM value reached 51.25/0.992, which exceeds the current mainstream denoising methods. Additionally, our method demonstrates robustness to different noise levels and exhibits good generalization performance across various datasets. Furthermore, our proposed approach also exhibits certain advantages on the DND benchmark(Darmstadt Noise Dataset). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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11 pages, 10528 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Image Clarity: A Non-Local Self-Similarity Prior Approach for a Robust Dehazing Algorithm
by Wujing Li, Yuze Liu, Xianfeng Ou, Jianhui Wu and Longyuan Guo
Electronics 2023, 12(17), 3693; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12173693 - 31 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1026
Abstract
When light propagates in foggy weather, it is affected and scattered by suspended particles in the air. As a result, images taken in this environment often suffer from blurring, reduced contrast, loss of details, and other issues. The primary challenge in dehazing images [...] Read more.
When light propagates in foggy weather, it is affected and scattered by suspended particles in the air. As a result, images taken in this environment often suffer from blurring, reduced contrast, loss of details, and other issues. The primary challenge in dehazing images is to estimate the transmission coefficient map in the atmospheric degradation model. In this paper, we propose a dehazing algorithm based on the optimization of the “haze-line” prior and non-local self-similarity prior. First, we divided the input haze image into small blocks and used the nearest neighbor classification algorithm to cluster the small patches, which were referred to as “patch-lines”. Based on the characteristics of these “patch-lines”, we could estimate the transmission coefficient map for the image. We then applied the transmission map to a weighted least squares filter to smooth it. Finally, we calculated the clear image using the haze degradation model. The experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm enhanced the image contrast and preserved the fine details, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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14 pages, 5929 KiB  
Article
Image Recognition of Group Point Objects under Interference Conditions
by Viliam Ďuriš, Anatoly V. Grigoriev and Sergey G. Chumarov
Electronics 2023, 12(11), 2537; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12112537 - 4 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1159
Abstract
The process of forming a vector-field model of flat images of group point objects, with various field-forming functions, is considered in this paper. Algorithms for recognizing group point objects in the presence of false and missing point objects are proposed. The quality of [...] Read more.
The process of forming a vector-field model of flat images of group point objects, with various field-forming functions, is considered in this paper. Algorithms for recognizing group point objects in the presence of false and missing point objects are proposed. The quality of the recognition of group point objects by the proposed algorithms is also evaluated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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15 pages, 2145 KiB  
Article
An Improved Method for Photovoltaic Forecasting Model Training Based on Similarity
by Limei Liu, Jiafeng Chen, Xingbao Liu and Junfeng Yang
Electronics 2023, 12(9), 2119; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12092119 - 6 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1506
Abstract
Photovoltaic (PV) power generation is the most widely adopted renewable energy source. However, its inherent unpredictability poses considerable challenges to the management of power grids. To address the arduous and time-consuming training process of PV prediction models, which has been a major focus [...] Read more.
Photovoltaic (PV) power generation is the most widely adopted renewable energy source. However, its inherent unpredictability poses considerable challenges to the management of power grids. To address the arduous and time-consuming training process of PV prediction models, which has been a major focus of prior research, an improved approach for PV prediction based on neighboring days is proposed in this study. This approach is specifically designed to handle the preprocessing of training datasets by leveraging the results of a similarity analysis of PV power generation. Experimental results demonstrate that this method can significantly reduce the training time of models without sacrificing prediction accuracy, and can be effectively applied in both ensemble and deep learning approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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19 pages, 2089 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Vehicle Pose Estimation with Heuristic L-Shape Fitting and Grid-Based Particle Filter
by Jing Sun, Yi-Mu Ji and Shang-Dong Liu
Electronics 2023, 12(8), 1903; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12081903 - 18 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1788
Abstract
Vehicle pose estimation with LIDAR plays a crucial role in autonomous driving systems. It serves as the fundamental basis for functions such as tracking, path planning, and decision-making. However, the majority of current vehicle pose estimation techniques struggle to produce satisfactory results when [...] Read more.
Vehicle pose estimation with LIDAR plays a crucial role in autonomous driving systems. It serves as the fundamental basis for functions such as tracking, path planning, and decision-making. However, the majority of current vehicle pose estimation techniques struggle to produce satisfactory results when faced with incomplete observation measurements, such as L-shaped point cloud clusters without side contours or those including side-view mirrors. In addition, the requirement for real-time results further increases the difficulty of the pose estimation task. In this paper, we present a vehicle Pose Estimation method with Heuristic L-shape fitting and grid-based Particle Filter (PE-HL-PF). We design a geometric shape classifier module to divide clusters into symmetrical and asymmetrical ones according to their shape features. Furthermore, a contour-based heuristic L-shape fitting module is introduced for asymmetrical clusters, and a structure-aware grid-based particle filter is used to estimate the pose of symmetrical clusters. PE-HL-PF first utilizes a heuristic asymmetrical module that selects dominant contours fitting orientation in a heuristic manner, thereby avoiding the need for a complex traversal search. Additionally, a symmetrical module based on particle filtering is incorporated to enhance the stability of orientation estimation. This method achieves significant improvements in both the runtime efficiency and pose estimation accuracy of incomplete point clouds. Compared with state-of-the-art pose estimation methods, our PE-HL-PF demonstrates a notable performance improvement. Our method can estimate the pose of thousands of objects in less than 1 millisecond, a significant improvement over previous methods. The results of experiments performed on the KITTI dataset validate the effectiveness of our approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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13 pages, 886 KiB  
Article
An Efficient Framework for Accurate Liver Segmentation in Abdominal CT Images with Low Knowledge Requirement
by Shao-Qian Yu, Tao Zhou, Yan-Hua Wen and Chuang Li
Electronics 2022, 11(24), 4182; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11244182 - 14 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1636
Abstract
Liver segmentation from abdominal computed tomography (CT) images is a primary step in the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer, but previous liver segmentation methods have the problems of excessive demand for prior knowledge, under- and oversegmentation, and boundary leakage. To solve these [...] Read more.
Liver segmentation from abdominal computed tomography (CT) images is a primary step in the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer, but previous liver segmentation methods have the problems of excessive demand for prior knowledge, under- and oversegmentation, and boundary leakage. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a new method of liver segmentation to assist doctors in medical judgment. Firstly, a liver reconstruction algorithm is proposed to obtain the approximate initial region of the liver, which reduces the requirement of prior knowledge and can reconstruct the liver region closer to the liver boundary. Then, we refine the edge of the liver region based on the reaction diffusion level set (RD level set). This edge refinement method can effectively deal with the weak boundary problem, prevent under- and oversegmentation, and obtain a more accurate liver region. Our method is verified on the clinical and public datasets, respectively. The segmentation results in terms of mean VOE, RVD, ASD, RMSD, and MSD on dataset Sliver07 are 5.1%, −0.1%, 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm, and 18.2 mm, and on dataset 3Dircadb are 8.1%, −0.2%, 1.5 mm, 2.4 mm, and 20.8 mm, respectively. Compared with the previous algorithms, the experiment results show that this method has a great improvement in accuracy with less prior knowledge. The liver reconstruction algorithm proposed in this paper can obtain a more accurate initial liver region, reduce the requirement for prior knowledge, and reduce time costs compared with the level set algorithm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Image Processing and Detection)
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