International Journal of Research in Advanced Technology - IJORAT

Vol. 1, Issue 8, SEPTEMBER 2016

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT THROUGH

CONTRAST IMPROVEMENT IN
ULTRASOUND IMAGE USING MATLAB
Dr.P.Suresh 1, S.Padmavathy 2
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering ,Karpagam college of Engineering,Coimbatore, India.1
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering ,M.Kumarasamy college of Engineering,Karur, India.2

Abstract: Image Enhancement is one of the most important and difficult techniques in image research. The aim of
image enhancement is to improve the visual appearance of an image, or to provide a better transform
representation for future automated image processing. Evaluation have been done to different enhancement
techniques applied to ultrasound images to see which enhancement techniques is the most suitable techniques that
can be applied to the images before segmenting the edge of the image. Some common enhancement techniques have
been used including the Histogram equalization, Logarithmic Transformations and Gamma Transformations. The
main goal of this study is to improve features and gain better characteristics of medical ultrasound images for a
right diagnosis. Ultrasound images were usually poor quality especially in contrast. As all enhancement techniques
are application oriented, it is necessary to find a method which needs simple operations with effective enhancement
techniques. The histogram equalization with an image histogram, we have obtained the uniform distribution of pixel
values, and then we have again carried out the histogram transformation. Enhance the quality of image by applying
different method with ultrasound images which is useful for further process.
Keywords: Image Preprocessing Technique, Contrast Enhancement, ultrasound image

I. INTRODUCTION
Ultrasound (US) imaging has become one of the most
preferred imaging techniques in todays medical practice
as it is inexpensive, widely available and comparatively
safe to the users as well as the operators. However, the
presence of speckle noise in all ultrasound images affects
the quality of the images which leads to the difficulties in
the interpretation of US images. Speckles tend to mask
the visibility of the low contrast and reduce the ability of
observers to resolve the actual information [1]. Besides,
due to the presence of speckles in ultrasound images, the
enhancement of US image is extremely difficult
especially in image of soft tissues whose underlying
structures are too small to be resolved by large
wavelength [2]. They also complicate further image
processing, such as image segmentation and edge
detection [3].Histogram equalization is one of the wellknown methods for enhancing the contrast of given
images, making the result image have a uniform
distribution of the gray level. Speckle is a form of
multiplicative, locally correlated noise which is applied
in medical ultrasound image interpretation [5].

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II. ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES

The aim of image enhancement is to improve the
interpretability or perception of information in images for
human viewers, or to provide `better' input for other
automated image processing techniques. Image enhancement
techniques can be divided into two broad categories:
1. Spatial domain methods, which operate directly on pixels
2. Frequency domain methods, which operate on the Fourier
transform of an image.
Unfortunately, there is no general theory for
determining what `good image enhancement is when it
comes to human perception. If it looks good, it is good!
However, when image enhancement techniques are used as
pre-processing tools for other image processing techniques,
then quantitative measures can determine which techniques
are
most
appropriate.
Apart
from
geometrical
transformations some preliminary grey level adjustments
may be indicated, to take into account imperfections in the
acquisition system. This can be done pixel by pixel,
calibrating with the output of an image with constant
brightness. Frequently space-invariant grey value

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International Journal of Research in Advanced Technology - IJORAT

Vol. 1, Issue 8, SEPTEMBER 2016

transformations are also done for contrast stretching, range processing used to improve the visual appearance of an
compression, etc.
image by adjusting the image histogram. Peaks in the image
histogram (indicating commonly used grey levels) are
III. Histogram modification
widened, while the valleys are compressed.
The histogram of an image represents the relative
a) Histogram Equalization:
frequency of occurrence of the various gray levels in the
image. It provides a total description of the appearance of an
The Histogram Equalization algorithm
image. The type and degree of enhancement obtained
enhances the contrast of images by
depends on the nature of the specified histogram. Let the
transforming the values in an intensity image
variable r represent the grey level of the pixels in the image
so that the histogram of the output image is
to be enhanced. Assume that the pixel values are normalized
approximately flat.
to lie in the range 0 r 1 with r=0 represents black
represents white in the gray scale. For any r in [ 0, 1 ], we
consider transformations of the form S=T(r) which produce
a level S for every pixel value r in the original image. It is
assumed that the transformation function satisfies the
conditions:
(1) T(r) is singled valued and monotonically increasing in
the interval {0 r 1};
(2) 0 T(r) 1, for 0 r 1
Condition (1) transformation preserves the order from black
to white in the gray scale . Condition (2) transformation
guarantees a mapping that is consistent with the allowed
range of pixel values.Example of such a transformation is:
Fig 3.3 Ultrasound image of fetal and its histogram obtained
using Matlab

Figure ( 3.1) Transformation

The inverse transform r = T -1(S) for 0 s 1 , where it is

assumed T-1(S) satisfies conditions (1) or (2) with respect to
variables The gray levels in an image are random quantities
in the interval [0,1] . Assuming that they are continuous
variables the original and transformed gray levels can be
characterized by their probability density functions Pr(r) and
Ps(s ). A great deal can be said about the general
characteristics of an image from the density functions of its
gray levels.It follows from elementary probability theory
that if Pr(r) and T(r) are known and T -1(S) satisfies condition
(1), then

Fig 3.4 Histogram equalization and its histogram of

Ultrasound image using Matlab

As you can clearly see from the images that the

new image contrast has been enhanced and its histogram has
also been equalized. There is also one important thing to be
note here that during histogram equalization the overall
shape of the histogram changes, where as in histogram
stretching the overall shape of histogram remains same.
b) Logarithmic Transformations:

The enhancement techniques are based on

modifying the appearance of an image by T(r) controlling
the probability density function of its gray levels via the
transformation function. Histogram equalization is an image

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Logarithmic Transformations can be used to

brighten the intensities of an image (like the Gamma
Transformation, where gamma < 1). More often, it is used to
increase the detail (or contrast) of lower intensity values.
They are especially useful for bringing out detail in Fourier

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International Journal of Research in Advanced Technology - IJORAT

Vol. 1, Issue 8, SEPTEMBER 2016

transforms .The following shows the original image and the

results of applying three of the transformations from above. [1]
Notice that when c=5, the image is the brightest and you can
see the radial lines on the inside of the tire (these lines are
[2]
barely viewable in the original because there is not enough
contrast in the lower intensities).
[3]

[4]

[5]

REFERENCES
Shrimali, V., Anand, R. S., Kumar, V. 2010. Comparing the
performance of ultrasonic liver image enhancement techniques: a
preference study. IETE Journal of Research, Vol 56, Issue 1.
R. Maini and H. Aggarwel, A Comprehensive Review of Image
Enhancement Techniques, Journal of Computing, Vol. 2, No. 3,
2010, pp. 8-13.
Thakur, A., Anand, R. S. 2005. Image quality based comparative
evaluation of wavelet filters in ultrasound speckle reduction. Digital
Signal Processing 15, pp. 455-465.
Hao Wang and Zhongfu Ye, Brightness Preserving Histogram
Equalizat ion with Ma ximu m Entropy: A Variational Perspective,
IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 51, No. 4,
pp.1326-1334,November 2005.
Yu, Y., Acton, S. T.2002. Speckle reducing anistrophic diffusion.
IEEE Trans on Imag Process, Vol 11, pp 1260-1270.

Fig 3.5 Logarithmic Transformations of Ultrasound image

using Matlab

c)

Gamma Transformations

With Gamma Transformations, you can curve the

grayscale components either to brighten the intensity (when
gamma is less than one) or darken the intensity (when
gamma is greater than one).

Fig 3.6 Gamma Transformations of Ultrasound image using Matlab

III. CONCLUSION
Image enhancement is a fundamental and is the
most important step before any image processing method to
be processed. Image enhancement process gives better visual
quality either by increasing the contrast or suppressing the
noise. This paper made an attempt to study image
enhancement by using Histogram equalization, Logarithmic
Transformations and Gamma Transformations. The different
image contrast enhancement techniques are analyzed in
which Histogram equalization play a major role of
enhancement compared to other method. The enhancement
techniques are superior to other techniques because these
techniques improve the visual effects and clarity of the
image with preserving its brightness. The major goal of
image contrast enhancement is to produce images without
severe side effects at the same time maintain input mean
brightness. Image enhancement algorithms offer a wide
variety of approaches for modifying images to achieve
visually acceptable images.

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