Mathematical models are the foundation of biomedical computing. Basing those
models on data extracted from images continues to be a fundamental technique for
achieving scientific progress in experimental, clinical, biomedical, and behavioral
research. Today, medical images are acquired by a range of techniques across all
biological scales, which go far beyond the visible light photographs and microscope
images of the early 20th century. Modern medical images may be considered to be
geometrically arranged arrays of data samples which quantify such diverse physical
phenomena as the time variation of hemoglobin deoxygenation during neuronal
metabolism, or the diffusion of water molecules through and within tissue.