Publication Date
6-1998
Abstract
The inverse problem is usually difficult because the signal (image) that we want to reconstruct is weak. Since it is weak, we can usually neglect quadratic and higher order terms, and consider the problem to be linear. Since the problem is linear, methods of solving this problem are also, mainly, linear (with the notable exception of the necessity to take into consideration, e.g., that the actual image is non-negative).
In most real-life problems, this linear description works pretty well. However, at some point, when we start looking for a better accuracy, we must take into consideration non-linear terms. This may be a minor improvement for normal image processing, but these non-linear terms may lead to a major improvement and a great enhancement if we are interested in outliers such as faults in non-destructive evaluation or bumps in mammography. Non-linear terms (quadratic or cubic) give a great relative push to large outliers, and thus, in these non-linear terms, the effect of irregularities dominate. The presence of the non-linear terms can serve, therefore, as a good indication of the presence of irregularities.
We describe the result of the experiments in which these non-linear terms are really helpful.
Comments
Technical Report: UTEP-CS-98-15
In: Ali Mohamad-Djafari (ed.), Bayesian Inference for Inverse Problems, Proceedings of the SPIE/International Society for Optical Engineering, Vol. 3459, San Diego, CA, 1998, pp. 128-135.