A simple lossless compression method-interval number method

Lossless compression techniques-are essential in archival and communication of medical images. Compression of medical images has been historically reversible or "lossless" limiting compression ratios to between 2:1 and 4:1. A new and simple lossless method-interval number-in the field of image compression in medical science is presented. The method is tested on several kinds of popular medical images. The general compression ratio is around 2:1. The best compression ratio can be 7.8:1 for X-ray images. It is shown that the interval number method is a very efficient and powerful method for medical image compression.