An improved robust algorithm for optimisation-based colour medical image watermarking

Abstract

Recently, significant attention has been focused on copyright protection of medical images, causing watermarking to become a prevalent research topic. In this paper, we propose an optimisation-based robust watermarking algorithm for the copyright protection of colour medical images. Initially, we decompose a host medical image by lifting wavelet transform (LWT), followed by discrete cosine transform (DCT) into transformed coefficients, and then embed multiple watermarks into the transformed host image by using hybrid optimisation algorithms. To further improve security and reduce the channel noise distortion, we then apply hashing and Hamming code to image and text mark, respectively, before the embedding process. Finally, we utilise 2D chaotic map to encrypt the marked media, aiming to achieve enhanced security and confidentiality. The experimental outcome shows satisfactory invisibility, watermark payload and robustness against image-processing attacks. Furthermore, through numerous comparative experiments with nine state-of-the-art algorithms on two standard datasets, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated.