May 12, 2004

Michael Braukus 
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1979)

Tracy Young
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 
(Phone: 321/867-2468) 

RELEASE: 04-156

NASA GRANTS TWO NEW IMAGING SOFTWARE PATENTS

NASA has granted two nonexclusive patent license agreements for 
imaging software technologies for application in commercial markets. 

The software programs Fuzzy Reasoning Edge Detection (FRED); Fuzzy 
Reasoning Adaptive Thresholding (FRAT); and Pose Invariant Pattern 
Recognition (PIPR) were developed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, 
Fla.

FRED is used to detect edges in noisy images and track unfamiliar 
objects in video and film. FRED is also used to track foreign object 
debris in launch videos and was a key component of the analysis in 
the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. 

The FRAT system transforms faded images into clearer, readable ones. 
It is faster and more reliable than most imaging software. NASA also 
uses FRAT to track debris during launch, information that was 
critical to the Columbia investigation.

The PIPR software program is used to search through large amounts of 
data to determine links and patterns. The software also investigates 
what has already occurred and can predict what will occur. PIPR 
requires no advance knowledge of the characteristics of images to be 
analyzed and provides an explicit indicator-of-match. 

NASA signed an agreement with Barton Medical Imaging, New Haven, 
Conn., for the software programs FRED, FRAT, and PIPR. Barton, a 
small high-tech company, plans on using the programs to enhance the 
performance, processing time and range of applications in their 
medical imaging systems.

An agreement was also signed with Zeus Technologies, Celebration, 
Fla., for the FRED and FRAT programs. Zeus will use the programs in 
the development of medical imaging devices that will assist in the 
real-time evaluation and classification of masses present in the 
images.

For information about NASA's Technology and Technology Transfer 
programs on the Internet, visit: 

http://nctn.hq.nasa.gov/ 

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit: 


http://www.nasa.gov 

	
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