Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can. SVG Filters are supported. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2011/10/14/svg-filter-eff... Edit: to clarify, the image would need to be moved into the SVG (which could be a simple DOM manipulation of the original tag).
Hm, if that's the case, then theoretically this component can be easily improved to support any DOM container (not just images) by just polyfilling filter: with native or SVG.
Of course, you could always just force IE9 mode... ;)