Compressing a data file representing an image wherein one or more regions
within the image are identified. At least one of the regions is selected
and the data corresponding to the selected region is compressed at a
different rate that the data corresponding to non-selected regions of the
image. The different compression rates are selected to maintain a desired
fidelity in an image reconstructed from the compressed data file. The
different compression rates can be predetermined, selected by a user, or
automatically selected. Compression rates can be based upon the type of
image to be compressed such as x-ray, CT scan or MRI images, the
structure that is being analyzed, parameters regarding the use of the
image, system parameters such as storage capacity available, or bandwidth
of a communication channel used to transmit the compressed file.