IEEE Awards Booklet - 2011 - 12

I E E E

M E D A L S

2011 IEEE
Medal for Innovations in
Healthcare Technology

2011 IEEE
Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal
Sponsored by Texas Instruments, Inc.

Sponsored by the IEEE Engineering in
Medicine and Biology Society

Harrison H. Barrett

Ingrid Daubechies

For pioneering contributions to the foundations and
applications of biomedical imaging science

For pioneering contributions to the theory and
applications of wavelets and filter banks

Considered one of the top imaging scientists in the world for his
knowledge of the underlying physics and mathematics of biomedical imaging, Harrison H. Barrett has broadly impacted the
field with contributions to instrumentation, reconstruction algorithms and image quality assessment. He has provided a rigorous
theoretical basis and clearly defined experimental and computational paradigms for the assessment and optimization of image
quality. His work led to improved understanding of single
photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging,
which uses gamma rays to provide three-dimensional imaging of
the brain, tumors and bone. Dr. Barrett's research on image
quality assessment has revolutionized how medical imaging
systems are evaluated. He implemented numerical observers
that allow a computer to analyze images instead of using human
observers, overcoming what can be a lengthy process.
Quantitative image quality assessment is now a requirement for
practically all biomedical imaging. As early as 1972, he published
some of the first results on using coded apertures for high-resolution tomographic imaging in nuclear medicine. During the
1980s and 1990s, he developed methods to improve the resolution-sensitivity trade-off in SPECT systems. He developed a
stationary hemispherical SPECT system for human brain imaging
and the FastSPECT and FastSPECT II systems for fast dynamic
imaging in small animals. Recent developments include semiconductor arrays for high-resolution gamma-ray imaging. He
co-founded the University of Arizona Center for Gamma-Ray
Imaging in 1998. An IEEE Fellow, Dr. Barrett is currently Regents
Professor and director of the Center for Gamma-Ray Imaging at
the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Considered one of the best known female mathematicians,
Ingrid Daubechies' creation of practical wavelet transforms revolutionized signal processing and has impacted audio, image
and video devices and communications systems. Her development of orthogonal bases of compact support in 1998 was a
watershed moment for the field of signal processing. Her work
opened up new pathways of theory and applications for wavelets
and filter banks and showed that their practical use in applications was indeed possible. Used for signal coding and data
compression, the "Daubechies Wavelets" are now an indispensable tool for signal processors. In her groundbreaking work, Dr.
Daubechies demonstrated how to design well-behaved orthogonal wavelets using well-known filter banks and was able to
provide a complete analysis. Dr. Daubechies then extended her
wavelet techniques to expand their range of applications. In
1992, with A. Cohen and J.C. Feauveau, she developed a family
of symmetrical biorthogonal wavelet bases to better handle
image and video encoding problems. The eventual JPEG 2000
image coding standard, which enables applications such as
next-generation entertainment systems and medical systems for
telediagnosis, would be based on these wavelets and filter
banks. Dr. Daubechies also worked with Wim Sweldens to apply
Sweldens' lifting algorithm to general wavelet transforms. The
resulting algorithms offered state-of-art performance in speed
and memory. She also applied lifting to a integer-to-integer
wavelet transform that eliminated the noise present in standard
transform coding algorithms. The lifted and integer-to-integer
wavelets are key components of the JPEG 2000 standard. An
IEEE Fellow, Dr. Daubechies is currently a professor in the
Mathematics Department at Duke University, Durham, N.C.

Scope: For outstanding contributions and/or innovations in
engineering within the fields of medicine, biology, and healthcare technology.

Scope: For outstanding achievements in signal processing.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Awards Booklet - 2011