Date of Award:

5-2010

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Computer Science

Committee Chair(s)

Heng-Da Cheng

Committee

Heng-Da Cheng

Committee

Xiaojun Qi

Committee

Curtis Dyreson

Committee

Stephen J. Allan

Committee

Yangquan Chen

Abstract

Ultrasound imaging suffers from severe speckle noise. We propose a novel approach for speckle reduction using 2D homogeneity and directional average filters to remove speckle noise. We transform speckle noise into additive noise using a logarithm transformation. Texture information is employed to describe the speckle characteristics of the image. The homogeneity value is defined using texture information value, and the ultrasound image is transformed into a homogeneity domain from the gray domain. If the homogeneity value is high, the region is homogenous and has less speckle noise. Otherwise, the region is nonhomogenous, and speckle noise occurs. The threshold value is employed to distinguish homogenous regions from regions with speckle noise obtained from a 2D homogeneity histogram according to the maximal entropy principle. A new directional filtering is convoluted to remove noise from pixels in a nonhomogenous region. The filtering processing iterates until the breast ultrasound image is homogenous enough. Experiments show the proposed method improves denoising and edge-preserving capability.

We present a novel enhancement algorithm based on fuzzy logic to enhance the fine details of ultrasound image features, while avoiding noise amplification and over-enhancement. We take into account both the fuzzy nature of an ultrasound and feature regions on images, which are significant in diagnosis. The maximal entropy principle utilizes the gray-level information to map the image into fuzzy domain. Edge and textural information is extracted in fuzzy domain to describe the features of lesions. The contrast ratio is computed and modified by the local information. Finally, the defuzzification operation transforms the enhanced ultrasound images back to the spatial domain. Experimental results confirm a high enhancement performance including fine details of lesions, without over- or under-enhancement.

Identifying object boundaries in ultrasound images is a difficult task. We present a novel automatic segmentation algorithm based on characteristics of breast tissue and eliminating particle swarm optimization (EPSO) clustering analysis, thus transforming the segmentation problem into clustering analysis. Mammary gland characteristics in ultrasound images are utilized, and a step-down threshold technique is employed to locate the mammary gland area. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach increases clustering speed and segments the mass from tissue background with high accuracy.

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