In computer aided diagnosis, a high-accuracy image indicating a temporal
difference of a diseased part of a patient is produced from a current
image and a past image as follows. First, a plurality of matching ROIs
(Regions of Interest) are defined on the current image and the past
image. A matching processing is performed on corresponding ROIs of the
two images to determine points on the past image corresponding to the
respective points on the current image. Obtained shift vectors are fitted
to a two-dimensional polynomial. In the fitting, when a matching ROI of
the current image is included in or overlapped with a previously-defined
region of interest, shift vectors are weighted by a small factor. The
current image is then modified according to obtained fitting
coefficients. Finally, an image indicating the difference between the
modified current image and the past image is produced.