眼科高频超声成像中斑点噪声抑制算法的研究

目的 斑点噪声是超声图像中存在的固有问题,而在眼科高频超声这种更为精细的超声检查中,有效地抑制斑点噪声能提高图像的质量,有助于临床医生对病情的判别.方法 提出了一种新的基于拉普拉斯（Laplacian）金字塔的多尺度斑点去噪方法.采用Laplacian金字塔,从斑点噪声中分离出临床图像特征,根据每层子带图像不同尺度及特点,从小尺度到大尺度,首先采用改进后的八方向各向异性斑点去噪（SRAD）去除图像斑点,然后增强图像的边缘、细节及对比度等方面.该方法与传统的SRAD滤波及相干增强滤波（CEDIF）进行对比,采用等效视数及算法的时间耗费对实验结果进行量化评估.结果 与传统SRAD滤波及CEDIF滤波方法相比,基于Laplacian金字塔的多尺度各向异性斑点去噪方法均高于前两种方法（1.172 3 vs 1.122 3、0.929 3及0.864 0 vs 1.396 0、1.468 3）.结论 本研究提出的基于Laplacian金字塔的多尺度各向异性斑点去噪方法在更有效地去除图像斑点噪声的同时,能很好地保存图像边缘及图像细节等.     

基于多尺度非线性扩散的超声图像斑点噪声去除算法

针对现有去噪算法可能造成超声图像细节模糊甚至丢失的问题,本文提出基于多尺度非线性扩散（multiscale nonlinear diffusion,MSND）的超声图像去噪模型.该模型结合冗余拉普拉斯塔形数据分解和非线性扩散的优点,利用冗余拉普拉斯塔形数据分解将图像分解为等大小的空间-频率子带,综合各子带的特征得到图像边缘和细节的精细表示,然后根据所得的综合特征指导各子带图像的非线性扩散.实验结果表明本文算法在去除噪声的同时能有效地保留和增强边界与细节.     

基于各向异性扩散的B超图像去噪

提出了一种基于各向异性扩散方程的B超图像斑点噪声抑制的算法.斑点噪声是由超声成像机制引起的固有噪声形态,它对B超图像的特征提取、识别和分析带来极大困难.特别是对于边缘提取,斑点噪声使得传统的提取算法几乎都无法取得理想的效果.各向异性扩散方程是一种能有效抑制斑点噪声的算法,本文针对原始算法中扩散系数过饱和的问题以及斑点尺度系数选择的不足,提出了改进的方法,从而在抑制斑点噪声的同时保留甚至增强B超图像中的边缘细节信息,为下一步的边缘提取提供了有效保障.     

基于Contourlet变换和非线性扩散的IVUS图像去噪

血管内超声(IVUS)图像的分割对于动脉粥样硬化疾病的研究和介入治疗具有重要的意义,但由于其自身存在斑点噪声,从而严重影响图像自动分割的准确性和速度.提出一种基于Contourlet变换和非线性扩散的斑点去除算法(CTND);利用自适应的对比度因子,在Contourlet域直接对IVUS图像各方向子带进行非线性扩散滤波,而不需要同态处理.实验结果表明,这种算法在保持IVUS图像强、弱边缘的同时,能有效地去除斑点噪声,并为图像外膜的提取奠定良好的基础.     

基于比率距离的自适应超声图像去噪方法

针对超声图像噪声的瑞利分布特性,使用一种新的自适应超声图像去噪方法,改进固定窗口包含边缘时无法做到沿边缘方向滤波的不足。采用可自由伸缩的自适应滤波窗口,首先针对瑞利分布的噪声引入比率距离,得到超声图像像素间的相似度距离,然后考虑像素的邻域图像块均值,解决相似度距离之间比较的问题,最后像素根据新的相似度距离进行八方向伸展,得到不规则形状的滤波窗口进行去噪。用仿真超声图像和临床超声图像进行实验,图像评价指标结果表明该算法优于经典算法,更适用于去除超声图像的斑点噪声,在去除噪声的同时能够较好地保留细节边缘。     

基于非参数自适应密度估计理论的医学超声图像去噪方法

在小波变换域中去除图像中的噪声是近年来的研究热点之一。目前在小波域中对加性噪声的去除已经有了许多研究结果,比如Donoho等的处理方法都得到了很好的应用。但是由于超声图像噪声情况的复杂性,其对去噪的方法提出了更高的要求。为了在去除噪声的同时能够更好的保护边缘及有用的细节信息,本研究结合Birg-éMassart等提出的非参数自适应估计理论,提出一种在平稳小波变换域中对超声图像去噪的方法。实验证明,这种基于非参数自适应估计理论的超声图像去噪方法,与Donoho阈值去噪方法相比,去噪效果有所提高。     

一种新的超声图像斑点噪声抑制方法

斑点噪声是超声图像中固有的噪声。现有的用于斑点噪声抑制的自适应滤波方法,小波软阈值方法及小波域内细节抛弃法在去除噪声的同时,不同程度地丢失了一些图像细节。针对这一问题。本文提出了一种新的结合自适应中值滤波和小波软阈值处理的超声图像斑点噪声抑制方法。对计算机仿真图像及超声图像进行处理的结果表明,本文提出的新方法在有效去除斑点噪声的同时,很好地保留了图像的细节,优于上述的其他方法。     

基于小波统计模型的医学超声图像去噪方法研究

超声图像中固有的斑点噪声严重降低图像的可解译程度,影响了后续的图像分析和诊断.因此,抑制相干斑噪声一直是医学超声图像预处理中一个关键性问题.本研究通过对含斑图像做对数变换和冗余小波分解,提出了一种基于Bayesian估计的小波域局部自适应性去斑算法.将斑点噪声和有用信号的小波系数分别建模为瑞利分布和拉普拉斯分布,利用最大后验概率(MAP)准则得到了一种解析的Bayesian估计表达式;进一步通过邻域窗口估计模型参数,使算法具有局部自适应性.实验仿真表明,该算法简单有效,在滤除超声图像斑点噪声的同时,较好地保持了图像的细节特征,其性能优于空间域滤波和传统的小波去噪算法.     

一种基于模糊均差和小波变换的医学图像去噪方法

小波阈值萎缩法能够有效地去除图像中的噪声,去噪阈值直接影响去噪的效果,而噪声标准差在去噪阈值的确定中起着至关重要的作用。针对医学图像的特点、基于寻找更合适的噪声标准差估计方法,本研究提出了一种新的利用模糊均差代替普通标准方差估计噪声标准差的方法。在各层小波分解的低频图像中利用模糊积分估计噪声标准差,然后确定每一层去噪阈值,进行图像去噪。试验结果表明,本研究算法在去除噪声的同时也较好地保持了图像的细节。     

基于卷积神经网络的超声图像散斑去噪算法

为了提高超声图像质量,解决传统去噪算法在抑制散斑噪声和保留超声图像纹理特征方面的难题,提出一种基于卷积神经网络的超声图像散斑去噪算法DSCNN(De-speckling CNN)。本文提出的算法利用卷积神经网络强大的拟合能力来学习从超声图像到其相应的高质量图像的复杂映射,同时,通过改进损失函数的方式来减少去噪过程中纹理信息的损失和细节的模糊。不同于以往简单地假设超声散斑噪声为乘性噪声,本文利用基于超声图像采集模型和散斑噪声形成模型的模拟超声成像技术为去噪模型生成更贴合真实超声图像的训练数据,解决深度学习方法训练数据匮乏以及在临床上无法获得与超声图像空间配准作为标签的无噪声图像的难题。通过与其他具有代表性的超声图像去噪算法比较,经DSCNN去噪后的超声图像无论在视觉效果还是图像质量评价指标上都取得了更好的结果,其中SSIM达到0.856 9,在文中所有方法中最高。     

Enhancing obstetric and gynecology ultrasound images by adaptation of the speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion filter

OBJECTIVE: So far there is no ideal speckle reduction filtering technique that is capable of enhancing and reducing the level of noise in medical ultrasound (US) images, while efficiently responding to medical experts' validation criteria which quite often include a subjective component. This paper presents an interactive tool called evolutionary speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion filter (EVOSRAD) that performs adaptive speckle filtering on ultrasound B-mode still images. The medical expert runs the algorithm interactively, having a permanent control over the output, and guiding the filtering process towards obtaining enhanced images that agree to his/her subjective quality criteria. METHODS AND MATERIAL: We employ an interactive evolutionary algorithm (IGA) to adapt on-line the parameters of a speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion (SRAD) filter. For a given input US image, the algorithm evolves the parameters of the SRAD filter according to subjective criteria of the medical expert who runs the interactive algorithm. The method and its validation are applied to a test bed comprising both real and simulated obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) ultrasound images. RESULTS: The potential of the method is analyzed in comparison to other speckle reduction filters: the original SRAD filter, the anisotropic diffusion, offset and median filters. Results obtained show the good potential of the method on several classes of OB/GYN ultrasound images, as well as on a synthetic image simulating a real fetal US image. Quality criteria for the evaluation and validation of the method include subjective scoring given by the medical expert who runs the interactive method, as well as objective global and local quality criteria. CONCLUSIONS: The method presented allows the medical expert to design its own filters according to the degree of medical expertise as well as to particular and often subjective assessment criteria. A filter is designed for a given class of ultrasound images and for a given medical expert who will later use the respective filter in clinical practice. The process of designing a filter is simple and employs an interactive visualization and scoring stage that does not require image processing knowledge. Results show that filters tailored using the presented method achieve better quality scores than other more generic speckle filtering techniques.     

Speckle reduction in ultrasound medical images using adaptive filter based on second order statistics

This article discusses an adaptive filtering technique for reducing speckle using second order statistics of the speckle pattern in ultrasound medical images. Several region-based adaptive filter techniques have been developed for speckle noise suppression, but there are no specific criteria for selecting the region growing size in the post processing of the filter. The size appropriate for one local region may not be appropriate for other regions. Selection of the correct region size involves a trade-off between speckle reduction and edge preservation. Generally, a large region size is used to smooth speckle and a small size to preserve the edges into an image. In this paper, a smoothing procedure combines the first order statistics of speckle for the homogeneity test and second order statistics for selection of filters and desired region growth. Grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) is calculated for every region during the region contraction and region growing for second order statistics. Further, these GLCM features determine the appropriate filter for the region smoothing. The performance of this approach is compared with the aggressive region-growing filter (ARGF) using edge preservation and speckle reduction tests. The processed image results show that the proposed method effectively reduces speckle noise and preserves edge details.     

Speckle reduction in ultrasound medical images using adaptive filter based on second order statistics

This article discusses an adaptive filtering technique for reducing speckle using second order statistics of the speckle pattern in ultrasound medical images. Several region-based adaptive filter techniques have been developed for speckle noise suppression, but there are no specific criteria for selecting the region growing size in the post processing of the filter. The size appropriate for one local region may not be appropriate for other regions. Selection of the correct region size involves a trade-off between speckle reduction and edge preservation. Generally, a large region size is used to smooth speckle and a small size to preserve the edges into an image. In this paper, a smoothing procedure combines the first order statistics of speckle for the homogeneity test and second order statistics for selection of filters and desired region growth. Grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) is calculated for every region during the region contraction and region growing for second order statistics. Further, these GLCM features determine the appropriate filter for the region smoothing. The performance of this approach is compared with the aggressive region-growing filter (ARGF) using edge preservation and speckle reduction tests. The processed image results show that the proposed method effectively reduces speckle noise and preserves edge details.     

Enhancement of the ultrasound images by modified anisotropic diffusion method

Speckle is a primary factor which degrades the contrast resolution and masks the meaningful texture information present in an ultrasound image. Its presence severely hampers the interpretation and analysis of ultrasound images. When speckle reduction technique is applied for visual enhancement of ultrasound images, it is to be kept in mind that blurring associated with speckle reduction should be less and fine details are properly enhanced. With these points in consideration, the modified speckle reduction anisotropic diffusion (MSRAD) method is proposed in the present study to improve the visual quality of the ultrasound images. In the proposed MSRAD method, the four neighboring pixel template in speckle reduction anisotropic diffusion (SRAD) method of Yu and Acton (IEEE Trans Image Process 11:1260–1270, 2002) have been replaced by a new template of larger number of neighboring pixels to calculate the diffusion term. To enhance visual quality of ultrasound images, nonquadratic regularization (Yu and Yadegar, Proceedings of the IEEE international conference on image processing, 2006) is incorporated with MSRAD method and accordingly changes in parameter settings have been made. The performance of MSRAD method was evaluated using clinical ultrasound images, interpretation by the medical experts and results of MSRAD method by subjective and objective criteria.