No abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate a useful image blurring index. This work is based on our previously developed method, the Moran peak ratio. Medical images are often deteriorated by noise or blurring. Image processing techniques are used to eliminate these two factors. The denoising process may improve image visibility with a trade-off of edge blurring and may introduce undesirable effects in an image. These effects also exist in images reconstructed using the lossy image compression technique. Blurring and degradation in image quality increases with an increase in the lossy image compression ratio. Objective image quality metrics [e.g., normalized mean square error (NMSE)] currently do not provide spatial information about image blurring. In this article, the Moran peak ratio is proposed for quantitative measurement of blurring in medical images. We show that the quantity of image blurring is dependent upon the ratio between the processed peak of Moran's Z histogram and the original image. The peak ratio of Moran's Z histogram can be used to quantify the degree of image blurring. This method produces better results than the standard gray level distribution deviation. The proposed method can also be used to discern blurriness in an image using different image compression algorithms.KEY WORDS: Moran peak ratio, image blurring, image quality

Organic semiconductor (OSC) gas sensors have grown into a widely discussed technology because of the presence of nanoscale fabrication processes. Thanks to the rapid development of nanotechnology, the performance of the OSC gas sensor has been pushed to the peak of its own and now can be used for numerous biomedical and environmental monitoring purposes that require high-precision sensing capability. However, the sophisticated and nonstandard fabrication process of most of these sensors has become the major impediment on the way of commercialization. Here, we demonstrate a micrometer-scale structure with a coupling layer using the current spreading effect to further enhance the sensing performance. The high-conductivity material poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS PH1000) was used as the coupling layer to increase the device operational current. The sensor exhibits a remarkably enhanced operational current of the microampere level without sacrificing the ammonia sensing capability. The issues of the structural profile are discussed carefully, and the sensor was tested with human breath samples to demonstrate a promising result. With the most common micrometer-scale fabrication technology, a ppb-regime sensing capability has been achieved, and the result of this work gives us a cut-in point regarding the high-sensitivity OSC gas sensors.