Enhanced anisotropic diffusion with noise amplification suppression

Abstract

In order for medical doctors to be able to effectively utilize ultrasound images to support their diagnosis, the images require to be enhanced. The noise contained in the image needs to be reduced and the edges need to be sharpened. In this paper, an enhanced technique based on anisotropic diffusion that is capable of carrying out simultaneously image smoothing and enhancement is presented. The technique (EAD) is equipped with noise amplification suppression to prevent unwanted enhancement of noise. The technique performs well for image containing noise up to 30%. The tuning parameter is simpler compared with other anisotropic diffusion enhancements.