Medical imaging challenges photogrammetry

In its current status, medical imaging involves a wide range of imaging modalities and is faced with a range of interesting research questions, while trying to automatically convert the huge floods of image data to useful information. The major characteristic of the developed techniques is the exploitation of visual similarities or differences; that is basically qualitative treatment of the information inherent in the images. This proves to be a major shortcoming, leading to erroneous or unreliable results in many cases. To this end, technology transfer from the part of photogrammetry can be proven very beneficial. Such a contribution can be geared by the fact that photogrammetry has developed efficient tools for accounting for imaging formation geometry. These tools, appropriately tuned for medical applications, can accelerate the technology transfer across the involved disciplines. Understanding the possible photogrammetric contributions by the medical imaging experts, and realizing the medical problems in photogrammetric terms by the photogrammetrists, remains a major barrier to this transfer. The intended scope of this paper is to provide a foundation for exchange of ideas and provoke photogrammetric research interest in these issues. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.