Abstract: In this paper, we address the problem of reconstructing the background of a scene from a video sequence with occluding objects. The images are taken by hand-held cameras. Our method composes the background by selecting the appropriate pixels from previously aligned input images. To do that, we minimize a cost function that penalizes the deviations from the following assumptions: background represents objects whose distance to the camera is maximal, and background objects are stationary. Distance information is roughly obtained by a supervised learning approach that allows us to distinguish between close and distant image regions. Moving foreground objects are filtered out by using stationariness and motion boundary constancy measurements. The cost function is minimized by a graph cuts method. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach to recover an occlusion-free background in a set of sequences.

Abstract: Videobronchoscopy is a medical imaging technique that allows interactive navigation inside the respiratory pathways and minimal invasive interventions. Tracheal procedures are ordinary interventions that require measurement of the percentage of obstructed pathway for injury (stenosis) assessment. Visual assessment of stenosis in videobronchoscopic sequences requires high expertise of trachea anatomy and is prone to human error. Accurate detection of tracheal rings is the basis for automated estimation of the size of stenosed trachea. Processing of videobronchoscopic images acquired at the operating room is a challenging task due to the wide range of artifacts and acquisition conditions. We present a model of the geometric-appearance of tracheal rings for its detection in videobronchoscopic videos. Experiments on sequences acquired at the operating room, show a performance close to inter-observer variability

Abstract: Optical Flow (OF) techniques facing the complexity of real sequences have been developed in the last years. Even using the most appropriate technique for our specific problem, at some points the output flow might fail to achieve the minimum error required for the system. Confidence measures computed from either input data or OF output should discard those points where OF is not accurate enough for its further use. It follows that evaluating the capabilities of a confidence measure for bounding OF error is as important as the definition
itself. In this paper we analyze different confidence measures and point out their advantages and limitations for their use in real world settings. We also explore the agreement with current tools for their evaluation of confidence measures performance.

Abstract: This paper presents a comparative evaluation of classical feature point descriptors when they are used in the long-wave infrared spectral band. Robustness to changes in rotation, scaling, blur, and additive noise are evaluated using a state of the art framework. Statistical results using an outdoor image data set are presented together with a discussion about the differences with respect to the results obtained when images from the visible spectrum are considered.

Abstract: This paper presents details of a general purpose micro-task on-demand platform based on the crowdsourcing philosophy. This platform was specifically developed for mobile devices in order to exploit the strengths of such devices; namely: i) massivity, ii) ubiquity and iii) embedded sensors. The combined use of mobile platforms and the crowdsourcing model allows to tackle from the simplest to the most complex tasks. Users experience is the highlighted feature of this platform (this fact is extended to both task-proposer and tasksolver). Proper tools according with a specific task are provided to a task-solver in order to perform his/her job in a simpler, faster and appealing way. Moreover, a task can be easily submitted by just selecting predefined templates, which cover a wide range of possible applications. Examples of its usage in computer vision and computer games are provided illustrating the potentiality of the platform.

Abstract: Bronchoscopists use fluoroscopy to guide flexible bronchoscopy to the lesion to be biopsied without any kind of incision. Being fluoroscopy an imaging technique based on X-rays, the risk of developmental problems and cancer is increased in those subjects exposed to its application, so minimizing radiation is crucial. Alternative guiding systems such as electromagnetic navigation require specific equipment, increase the cost of the clinical procedure and still require fluoroscopy. In this paper we propose an image based guiding system based on the extraction of airway centres from intra-operative videos. Such anatomical landmarks are matched to the airway centreline extracted from a pre-planned CT to indicate the best path to the nodule. We present a
feasibility study of our navigation system using simulated bronchoscopic videos and a multi-expert validation of landmarks extraction in 3 intra-operative ultrathin explorations.

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel CycleGAN architecture for thermal image super-resolution, together with a large dataset consisting of thermal images at different resolutions. The dataset has been acquired using three thermal cameras at different resolutions, which acquire images from the same scenario at the same time. The thermal cameras are mounted in rig trying to minimize the baseline distance to make easier the registration problem.
The proposed architecture is based on ResNet6 as a Generator and PatchGAN as Discriminator. The novelty on the proposed unsupervised super-resolution training (CycleGAN) is possible due to the existence of aforementioned thermal images—images of the same scenario with different resolutions. The proposed approach is evaluated in the dataset and compared with classical bicubic interpolation. The dataset and the network are available.