Kalpana Saini1, M L Dewal2, Manojkumar Rohit3. 1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, A-28/1 Subhash Nagar, Roorkee, 247667, Uttarakhand, India. kal_2312@rediffmail.com. 2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, Uttarakhand, India. 3. Department of Cardiology, Advanced Cardiac Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160012, India.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Speckle noise removal is the most important step in the processing of echocardiographic images. A speckle-free image produces useful information to diagnose heart-related diseases. Images which contain low noise and sharp edges are more easily analyzed by the clinicians. This noise removal stage is also a preprocessing stage in segmentation techniques. METHODS: A new formulation has been proposed for a well-known nonlinear complex diffusion filter (NCDF). Its diffusion coefficient and the time step size are modified to give fast processing and better results. An investigation has been performed among nine patients suffering from mitral regurgitation. Images have been taken with 2D echo in apical and parasternal views. RESULTS: The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), universal quality index (Qi), mean absolute error (MAE), mean square error (MSE), and root mean square error (RMSE) have been calculated, and the results show that the proposed method is much better than the previous filters for echocardiographic images. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method, modified nonlinear complex diffusion filter (MNCDF), smooths the homogeneous area and enhances the fine details.
BACKGROUND: Speckle noise removal is the most important step in the processing of echocardiographic images. A speckle-free image produces useful information to diagnose heart-related diseases. Images which contain low noise and sharp edges are more easily analyzed by the clinicians. This noise removal stage is also a preprocessing stage in segmentation techniques. METHODS: A new formulation has been proposed for a well-known nonlinear complex diffusion filter (NCDF). Its diffusion coefficient and the time step size are modified to give fast processing and better results. An investigation has been performed among nine patients suffering from mitral regurgitation. Images have been taken with 2D echo in apical and parasternal views. RESULTS: The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), universal quality index (Qi), mean absolute error (MAE), mean square error (MSE), and root mean square error (RMSE) have been calculated, and the results show that the proposed method is much better than the previous filters for echocardiographic images. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method, modified nonlinear complex diffusion filter (MNCDF), smooths the homogeneous area and enhances the fine details.