Effects on MR images compression in tissue classification quality

It is known that image compression is required to optimize the storage in memory. Moreover, transmission speed can be significantly improved. Lossless compression is used without controversy in medicine, though benefits are limited. If we compress images lossy, where image can not be totally recovered; we can only recover an approximation. In this point definition of 'quality' is essential. What we understand for 'quality'? How can we evaluate a compressed image? Quality in images is an attribute whit several definitions and interpretations, which actually depend on the posterior use we want to give them. This work proposes a quantitative analysis of quality for lossy compressed Magnetic Resonance (MR) images, and their influence in automatic tissue classification, accomplished with these images