Medical image compression using topology-preserving neural networks

A novel method based on topology-preserving neural networks is used to implement vector quantization for medical image compression. The described method is an innovative image compression procedure, which differentiates itself from known systems in several ways. It can be applied to larger image blocks and represents better probability distribution estimation methods. A transformation-based operation is applied as part of the encoder on the block-decomposed image. The quantization process is performed by a “neural-gas” network which applied to vector quantization converges quickly to low distortion errors and reaches a distortion error lower than that resulting from Kohonen's feature map or the LBG algorithm. To study the efficiency of our algorithm, we blended mathematical phantom features into clinically proved cancer free mammograms. The influence of the neural compression method on the phantom features and the mammo-graphic image is not visually perceptible up to a high compression rate.