Preface

When we talk about digital image processing, we can refer to a wide variety of techniques, concepts, and applications of different types of processing for different purposes. The very concept of a digital image is broad enough to depict various aspects and elements, for example, a video, photograph, or medical image.

This book provides examples of digital image processing applications and presents recent research on image processing concepts and techniques. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to applications of image processing in the field of medical physics, presenting different imaging modalities and some of the main contributions of the use of processing techniques to medicine. Chapter 2 compares different techniques used in one of the most fundamental and important steps of the overall digital image processing cycle: binarization. In this step, we try to represent a digital image with characteristic elements that allow the extraction of relevant information from the image for better computational interpretation. Chapter 3 discusses image processing with a dynamic application. The authors present results obtained using a technique for tracking objects in a video sequence. Chapter 4, presents high-performance processing techniques in video processing that aim to gain computational performance. Chapter 5 deals with automated face recognition, presenting promising results in the use of techniques for recognizing occluded faces in an image, for example, when the individual to be recognized is wearing a mask. Finally, Chapter 6 reviews the techniques and concepts used in CT imaging for the purpose of identifying and characterizing lesions for diagnosing cancer.

We hope this book will inspire young researchers to seek out and develop new technical and scientific advances in digital image processing.

> **Paulo E. Ambrósio** Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
