Medical Image Watermarking: A Study on Image Degradation
Authors: B.M. Planitz, A.J. Maeder
Date: February 2005
Abstract:
Digital watermarking has been proposed to increase medical image security, confidentiality and integrity. Medical image watermarking is a special subcategory of image watermarking in the sense that the images have special requirements. Particularly, watermarked medical images should not differ perceptually from their original counterparts, because the clinical reading of the images (e.g. for diagnosis) must not be affected. This paper presents a preliminary study on the degradation of medical images when embedded with different watermarks, using a variety of popular systems. Image quality is measured with a number of widely used metrics, which have been applied elsewhere in image processing. The general conclusion that arises the results is that typical watermark embedding can cause numeric and perceptual errors in an image. The greater the robustness of a watermark, the greater the errors are likely to be. Consequently medical image watermarking remains an open area for research, and it appears that a selection of different watermarks for different medical image types is the most appropriate solution to the generic problem.
Keywords: Watermarking, medical images, medical imaging
Publisher: Proceedings of the Australian Pattern Recognition Society (APRS) Workshop on Digital Image Computing (WDIC 2005), Brisbane, Australia, 12 February 2005, CD-ROM pp 3-8
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