Vector quality measure of lossy compressed medical images.

A numerical measure, which is able to predict diagnostic accuracy rather than subjective quality, is required for compressed medical image assessment. The objective of this study is to present a proposal for a new vector measure of image quality, reflecting diagnostic accuracy. Construction of such measure includes the formation of a diagnostic quality pattern based on the subjective ratings of local image features playing an essential role in the detection and classification of any lesion. Experimental results contain the opinions of 9 radiologists: 2 test designers and 7 observers who rated digital mammograms. The correlation coefficient between the numerical equivalent of the vector measure and subjective pattern is over 0.9.