Escaping path approach with extended neighborhood for speckle noise reduction

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach to multiplicative noise removal in ultrasound images. The proposed algorithm utilizes concept of digital paths created on the image grid presented in [14] adapted to the needs of multiplicative noise reduction. Digital Paths are used to determine the filter weights taking into account the structures present in the image. Method of creating path is crucial for the efficiency and speed of the filter. The new approach uses special type of digital paths based on so called Escaping Path Model created with extended neighborhood system. The experiments confirmed that the proposed algorithm achieves a comparable results with the existing state of the art denoising schemes in suppressing multiplicative noise in ultrasound images.