Physics of fractional imaging in biomedicine

Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2018 Dec:140:13-20. doi: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2018.03.002. Epub 2018 Mar 12.

Abstract

The mathematics of imaging is a growing field of research and is evolving rapidly parallel to evolution in the field of imaging. Imaging, which is a sub-field of biomedical engineering, considers novel approaches to visualize biological tissues with the general goal of improving health. "Medical imaging research provides improved diagnostic tools in clinical settings and supports the development of drugs and other therapies. The data acquisition and diagnostic interpretation with minimum error are the important technical aspects of medical imaging. The image quality and resolution are really important in portraying the internal aspects of patient's body. Although there are several user friendly resources for processing image features, such as enhancement, colour manipulation and compression, the development of new processing methods is still worthy of efforts. In this article we aim to present the role of fractional calculus in imaging with the aid of practical examples.

Keywords: Bloch equation; DWI; Elastography; Fractional order differential operators; Imaging.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Biophysical Phenomena*
  • Diagnostic Imaging / methods*
  • Elasticity
  • Humans
  • Viscosity