What best practices should be followed when integrating images into PHP code for dynamic content?

When integrating images into PHP code for dynamic content, it is important to ensure that the image paths are properly sanitized to prevent any security vulnerabilities. One best practice is to store the image paths in a database and retrieve them securely using prepared statements to avoid SQL injection attacks. Additionally, always validate user input to prevent any malicious code injection through image uploads.

<?php
// Retrieve image path from database securely
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT image_path FROM images WHERE id = ?");
$stmt->execute([$imageId]);
$imagePath = $stmt->fetchColumn();

// Display the image
echo "<img src='" . htmlspecialchars($imagePath) . "' alt='Image'>";
?>