Edge preserved image fusion based on multiscale toggle contrast operator

An edge preserved image fusion algorithm based on multiscale toggle contrast operator is proposed in this paper. First, the multiscale toggle contrast operator using multiscale structuring elements with the same shape and increasing sizes is discussed. Then, the multiscale dilation and erosion features which represent the edge information of the original images are extracted by using the multiscale toggle contrast operator. After the final dilation and erosion fusion features are constructed from the extracted multiscale dilation and erosion features, the final fusion image is formed by combining the final dilation and erosion fusion features into a base image calculated from the original image. Because the multiscale dilation and erosion features which represent the edge information are effectively extracted and combined into the final fusion image, clear and well preserved edge features of the final fusion image are obtained. Experimental results show that, the proposed image fusion algorithm is efficient for edge preserving and performs well. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.