The dataset describing an entity in a first modality and of a first, high
resolution is used to enhance the resolution of a dataset describing the
same entity in a second modality of a lower resolution. The two data sets
of different modalities are spatially registered to each other. From this
information, a joint histogram of the values in the two datasets is
computed to provide a raw analysis of how the intensities in the first
dataset correspond to intensities in the second dataset. This is
converted into a joint probability of possible intensities for the
missing pixels in the low resolution dataset as a function of the
intensities of the corresponding pixels in the high-resolution dataset to
provide a very rough estimate of the intensities of the missing pixels in
the low resolution dataset. Then, an objective function is defined over
the set of possible new values that gives preference to datasets
consistent with (1) the joint probability distributions, (2) the existing
values in the low resolution dataset, and (3) smoothness throughout the
data set. Finally, an annealing or similar iterative method is used to
minimize the objective function and find an optimal solution over the
entire dataset.