The present invention comprises a novel method, system and device for
post-processing images, such as trabecular bone images, obtained by MRI,
CT, or other image technologies, to provide increasing apparent image
resolution and to alleviate the effects of partial volume blurring, which
otherwise precludes accurate measurement of structures in the
limited-resolution regime in which image voxel size is larger than the
typical structural element to be resolved. Since acquiring images at
increased resolution often exacts an unacceptable signal-to-noise penalty,
methods and systems to alleviate the adverse effects of partial volume
blurring are instrumental for the accurate measurement of architectural
parameters in applications, such as predicting the mechanical competence
of trabecular bone networks. Referred to as "subvoxel processing," the
invention is applicable to volumes of interest containing material phases
of two discrete signal intensities, and it has been shown to be
significantly more accurate than trilinear interpolation in decreasing
apparent voxel size, especially in the presence of noise.
