The invention discloses an
image retrieval method and device, and belongs to the field of
image processing. The method comprises the following steps: obtaining the
feature vector of each seed image, wherein the
feature vector is composed of multi-level features of the seed image extracted from a neural network; generating at least one
visual word of each seed image according to the
feature vector of each seed image, wherein the at least one
visual word is used for expressing the semantic of each seed image; and obtaining at least one seed image and at least one feature vector of each
visual word according to the feature vector of each seed image and the at least one visual word, and carrying out
image retrieval. According to the method disclosed by the invention, the seed image is regarded as the set of the visual words, the feature vector of the seed image is obtained, at least one visual word is generated according to the feature vector, the at least one visual word is used for expressing the semantic of the seed image, and when carrying out the
image retrieval based on the visual word, the retrieval accuracy is improved, and the retrieval demand of a user can be satisfied.