The homogeneity map method for speckle reduction in diagnostic ultrasound images

GÜNGÖR M. A., KARAGÖZ İ.

MEASUREMENT, vol.68, pp.100-110, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 68
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.measurement.2015.02.047
  • Journal Name: MEASUREMENT
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.100-110
  • Keywords: Homogeneity map method, Speckle noise, Image enhancement, Diagnostic ultrasound, ENHANCEMENT, SUPPRESSION, DIFFUSION, FILTER
  • Gazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper proposes a new method to reduce speckle noise in diagnostic ultrasound images by improving the speckle reduction capacity of an edge-sensitive filter. A homogeneity map is generated according to the local statistics of the window formed for each image pixel. The homogeneity map method uses the advantageous properties of a filter with a better smoothing capability than the edge-sensitive filter to increase the image quality of the edge-sensitive filter. We conducted our study using a cyst image simulated by the Field II program, a kidney image, and a real ultrasound image to which we applied two popular filters: SRAD and OBNLM. The results show that our proposed method has better denoising performance than the edge-sensitive filter, without any loss of edges. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.