A new fusion scheme for multifocus images based on focused pixels detection

In this paper, a new multifocus image fusion scheme based on the technique of focused pixels detection is proposed. First, a new improved multiscale Top-Hat (MTH) transform, which is more effective than the traditional Top-Hat transform in extracting focus information, is introduced and utilized to detect the pixels of the focused regions. Second, the initial decision map of the source images is generated by comparing the improved MTH value of each pixel. Then, the isolated regions removal method is developed and employed to refine the initial decision map. In order to improve the quality of the fused image and avoid the discontinuity in the transition zone, a dual sliding window technique and a fusion strategy based on multiscale transform are developed to achieve the transition zones fusion. Finally, the decision maps of the focused regions and the transition zones are both used to guide the fusion process, and then the final fused image is formed. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the conventional multifocus image fusion methods in both subjective and objective qualities.