Robust Multi-Focus Image Fusion Using Edge Model and Multi-Matting

IEEE Trans Image Process. 2018 Mar;27(3):1526-1541. doi: 10.1109/TIP.2017.2779274. Epub 2017 Dec 4.

Abstract

An effective multi-focus image fusion method is proposed to generate an all-in-focus image with all objects in focus by merging multiple images. The proposed method first estimates focus maps using a novel combination of edge model and a traditional block-based focus measure. Then, a propagation process is conducted to obtain accurate weight maps based on a novel multi-matting model that makes full use of the spatial information. The fused all-in-focus image is finally generated based on a weighted-sum strategy. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has state-of-the-art performance for multi-focus image fusion under various situations encountered in practice, even in cases with obvious misregistration.