REPro.JPEG: a new image compression approach based on reduction/expansion image and JPEG compression for dermatological medical images

Medical images are known for their huge volume which becomes a real problem for their archiving or transmission notably for telemedicine applications. In this context, we present a new method for medical image compression which combines image definition resizing and JPEG compression. We baptise this new protocol REPro.JPEG (reduction/expansion protocol combined with JPEG compression). At first, the image is reduced then compressed before its archiving or transmission. At last, the user or the receiver decompresses the image then enlarges it before its display. The obtain results prove that, at the same number of bits per pixel lower than 0.42, that REPRo. JPEG guarantees a better preservation of image quality compared to the JPEG compression for dermatological medical images. Besides, applying the REPRo. JPEG on these colour medical images is more efficient while using the HSV colour space compared to the use of RGB or YCbCr colour spaces.