Coupling denoising algorithm based on discrete wavelet transform and modified median filter for medical image

Abstract

In order to overcome the phenomenon of image blur and edge loss in the process of collecting and transmitting medical image, a denoising method of medical image based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and modified median filter for medical image coupling denoising is proposed. The method is composed of four modules: image acquisition, image storage, image processing and image reconstruction. Image acquisition gets the medical image that contains Gaussian noise and impulse noise. Image storage includes the preservation of data and parameters of the original image and processed image. In the third module, the medical image is decomposed as four sub bands (LL, HL, LH, HH) by wavelet decomposition, where LL is low frequency, LH, HL, HH are respective for horizontal, vertical and in the diagonal line high frequency component. Using improved wavelet threshold to process high frequency coefficients and retain low frequency coefficients, the modified median filtering is performed on three high frequency sub bands after wavelet threshold processing. The last module is image reconstruction,which means getting the image after denoising by wavelet reconstruction. The advantage of this method is combining the advantages of median filter and wavelet to make the denoising effect better, not a simple combination of the two previous methods. With DWT and improved median filter coefficients coupling denoising, it is highly practical for high-precision medical images containing complex noises. The experimental results of proposed algorithm are compared with the results of median filter, wavelet transform, contourlet and DT-CWT, etc. According to visual evaluation index PSNR and SNR and Canny edge detection, in low noise images, PSNR and SNR increase by 10%–15%; in high noise images, PSNR and SNR increase by 2%–6%. The experimental results of the proposed algorithm achieved better acceptable results compared with other methods, which provides an important method for the diagnosis of medical condition.

Keywords

medical image / image denoising / discrete wavelet transform / modified median filter / coupling denoising

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