Journal of Critical Reviews

ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 13, 2020

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGES USING SOBEL EDGE

DETECTION
M Ravi Kumar1, J Lakshmi Prasanna2, Varanasi Sri Harsha Vardhan3, Morla Bhaskar Vystanava
Swamulu4, Gade Kalyan Kumar5, Sreevardhan Cheerla6, Chella Santhosh7
1234567Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Vaddeswaram,
Green Fields, Guntur (Dist), 522502, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Corresponding Author Email: ravikumar@kluniversity.in

Received: 12.04.2020 Revised: 13.05.2020 Accepted: 09.06.2020

Abstract
Ultrasonic image is an imaging technique widely used in medical diagnostic applications. Unfortunately, the quality of ultrasonic images,
mainly because of speckle noise, is poor. We suppress the sound of spikes using image filters in this project and finally we create an image
of an ultrasound detected on a rim. Median filtering, Fourier filters, Sobel filters, histogram equalization, Canny Edge Detection are the
techniques used. In terms of edge safety, the performance of the proposed method is calculated by a mean structural similarity in
relation to the other methods. The results of the proposed approach shows that the proposed approach can enhance the image quality of
ultrasound images by improving image quality while effectively minimizing speckle noise.

Keywords: Image Enhancement, Medical ultrasound imaging, Noise Reduction, Sobel Edge Detection, Speckle reduction, Speckle
noise, Ultrasound Images.

© 2020 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.13.69

INTRODUCTION
Fetal Electrocardiogram (FECG) Signal provides potentially
reliable information that could help patients make more
informed and timely decisions when operating. The ultimate
reason for the interest in FECG signal analyzes is clinical
diagnosis and clinical applications. With strong and advanced
methodologies, it becomes very important in the fetal monitoring
to isolate and identify FECG signal from composite abdominal
signals. Over the past few decades, Image quality in ultrasound
imagery has been improved rapidly by advancement of
technology in transducer sensitivity, beamforming and image
processing techniques [1]. Nevertheless, ultrasound imagery
doesn’t give optimal results in low contrast resolution images as
the acoustic impedance among soft tissues is very small that is
approximately equal to 1% [2]. Speckle is normally a grained salt
and pepper pattern of the sum of constructive and destructive
interference of the outgoing sound waves from the body [3].
Ultrasound pictures are taken in general purposes, uses sound
waves with high frequency to view the body which is also known
as Sonography. Through Ultrasound images the body organs and
the blood flowing through the veins can also be viewed.
Ultrasound pictures are not concerned with radiation exposure in
contrast with X-ray imaging. In an ultrasound examination, a thin
layer of gel is applied in the area where the transducer is placed
on the skin. The gel applied relays the ultrasound waves to the
body from the transducer. Ultrasonic photography uses sound
waves to create images of the body. It is used to treat the causes
of pain, inflammation and swelling in the body's internal organs
and to investigate babies in the pregnancy and in the brain and
hips. This is also used for direct biopsies, heart disease treatment
and accident assessment after a heart attack. Ultrasonic radiation
is not natural, non-invasive, or ionizing.
The ultrasound picture comes from the reflection of the waves in
the body structures. The frequency (amplitude) of the sound
signal and
thetimeittakesforthewavetogetthroughthebodygivetheinformatio
nnecessarytocreateanimage.In addition, speckle interferes with t
he processing andinterpretation of images such as segmentation,i
dentification and CAD[4].The speckle pattern is strongly
dependent on the body tissue structure and various image
parameters, such as the ultrasound transducer's frequency and
geometry[5].
The aim of the speckle decrease is to remove speckle sound and
preserve diagnostic information without losing critical data in
the image. While implementing simple average and low noise,
electrical devices[6], it is difficult to remove the speckle noise.
Several speculative reduction techniques[7-16] have been
proposed, such as Speckle Reduction-Frequency Compounding,
Speckle Reduction-Spatial Compounding and Speckle Reduction-
Post Filtering . Several techniques for the elimination of speckles
are suggested. Methods of speckle reduction are generally
divided into two groups. Composition blends ultrasound images
from various scanning directions of the same target. The speckles
can be reduced at the expense of degraded spatial resolution.
This approach also requires the use of a high-speed image
processing calculation, which normally is achieved by hardware.
At the present time, the enhancement of images after acquisition
is commonly used since there is neither additional equipment
nor a minimum requirement, so processing on envelopes
detected data or log compressed scanned data conversions can
be carried out.
PROCEDURE
Such filters have been connected to the AD equation, which gives
rise to the filter known as speckle removal which reduces
anisotropic diffusion. With different speckle rates this filter
showed excellent performance. Nevertheless, SRAD[17-18]
continues to expand the thin linear and corrective functions. An
approach that combines SRAD intensity and de-convolution
restoration is proposed by Acton[17] to overcome the problem of
feature broadening. This approach suggested that the distortion
of the image was caused by the merging of the Point Spread
Function (PSF) and the underlying feature of the imaging system.
Deconvolution sharpens line patterns in the image, while SRAD
reduces saliva.

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IJSTR
 IMAGE ENHANCEMENT FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGES USING SOBEL EDGE DETECTION

Original Image

Median Filtering

Fast Fourier Transform & FFT Shift

Remove Lower Frequency

Inverse FFT & Inverse FFT Shift

Sobel Edge Detection

Thresholding the Image

Output Image

Fig. 1. Steps for Image Enhancement of Ultrasound Images

Image Acquisition in the pre-processing. The pre-processed image is further

Image Acquisition is the most important stage in image
processing. The image acquired is completely unprocessed.
Image acquisition is the retrieving action of the image from any
source. Without this step no process can be done. In this paper,
ultrasound images are enhanced. For acquisition of ultrasound
images, a transducer is used on the body where the image should
be sensed and a thin gel is applied in the area of sensing so that it
relays the ultrasound waves in to body which are emitted from
transducer. Ultrasound images are the reflections of the sound
waves in the structure of the body.
Pre-processing
Pre-Processing of the ultrasound images is used to transform
echo signals to original B-mode images without any post-
processing. Firstly , the multi-channel signals which are obtained
by the transducer are summed to improve the signal to noise
ration and to improve the resolution the image which is called
Beamforming. After Beamforming, the envelope of the RF signal
is detected using common Demodulation methods that are
Quadrature demodulation method, a variant of Foster-Seeley
discriminator which is called as radio discriminator is used in the
proposed method. Gray-scale image compression is the next step
processed to get the desired output.
SPECKLE NOISE
Speckle noise is a type of salt and pepper noise which is present
radar imagery which is in turn a granular noise, a synthetic
aperture radar (SAR)[17-23], ultrasound medicine and
tomography pictures with optical coherence. Most surfaces are
very rough at the wavelength level, both artificial and organic.
Photos from these surfaces are subject to a common
phenomenon called Speckle by imaging systems such as laser,
Synthetic Aperture Radar, and ultrasounds.
MEDIAN FILTERING OF AN IMAGE
The median filter has been used to extract the sound of an object
or a signal using nonlinear optical filtering techniques. This step
is used to improve the quality of the results which are going to
undergone. Median filtering is basic non-linear image filtering
technique of digital image processing, which is in turn used to
remove noise and preserving the edges.

Fig. 2. Median filtering of an Image

Median filtering is a non-linear way of eliminating images noise
[24]. It is often used because it is highly efficient at reducing
noise while maintaining the edges. The filter works by moving
pixel by pixel through the picture pixel and replacing each value
with the neighboring pixel medium value. It is particularly
effective in reducing the noise level of the' salt' type. The pattern
of neighbor is called the slide window, pixel-by-pixel, for the
entire image. The median is calculated first by numerically
sorting all the pixel values from the window and then deleting
the medium row pixel. Filtering of images for: noise reduction
Sharp contrast Highlight contours Edge detection.

Journal of critical reviews 391

 IMAGE ENHANCEMENT FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGES USING SOBEL EDGE DETECTION
EDGE DETECTION
Edge detection is used to detect the pixel intensity transitions
that is from low to high or high to low[26]. Blade detection was
used to identify objects, track targets, segmentation, etc.
Therefore, edge detection is one of the important technique used
in processing of the image. Most of the edge detection methods
are available. These methods for detecting picture
transformations are suggested. Edge detection methods are
usually derivation the images either first order or second order.
Derivative techniques can be classified into two classes: first and
second order methods. In first order techniques, the Sobel filter
is the best one. This operates by measuring the object strength
gradient in the image at each pixel. This determines the direction
of the highest light-to-dark rise and the rate of change in that
direction. The first-order derivative techniques rely on the
estimation and combination of the gradient values in several
directions. In this paper, sobel filter is considered an edge
detection method. The Sobel edge detector is used with two caps,
one vertical and one horizontal. For these masks, typically 3
matrices are used. MATLAB usually uses 3x3-dimensional
matrices. In this study, the masks for detection of the Sobel rim
have been extended to 5x5. A MATLAB form, called Sobel5entr5,
is generated with these new matrices.
IMPLEMENTATION TECHNIQUE
Fourier Filter
The Fourier filter is a filter type based on the handling of
different frequency components of a signal. This works by using
Fig.3. Fourier Filtering of an Image
Sobel Filter
In image process and in computer vision, the Sobel operator is
used in edge detection algorithms where a highlighting edge is
produced, and the Sobel operator often referred to as the Sobel-
Fieldman or the Sobel filter. It is functionally a discrete
differentiation operator, which calculates the gradient of the
image intensity approximation. Either the corresponding
gradient vector or this vector standard shall be the product of
Sobel–Feldman operator at each point in the picture. The Sobel–
Feldman operator uses a low, separable, integer-value filter to
convert the image to horizontal as well as vertical directions,
making it computationally relatively inexpensive.it can be used in
sharpening the edge, as intensity level will changes at the edge of
image by large variation. The Sobel operator conducts 2-D spatial
gradient measurements on the object and thus emphasizes
regions with a high spatial frequency corresponding to the edges.
Image to Binary Conversion
Image conversion forms a binary image. The black and white
photo is a binary image which has two levels(0,1). Read the pixel
for 0, if dark, and turn it on 1 (or reverse 1 and 0 if clear). Read
each pixel to 0. Binarization is the binarization process (making
2-element binary data): when the image is not black or white it's
converted into a formula. (R+G+B)/3>0.5
IMAGE THRESHOLDING
The simplest method for segmenting images is thresholding. A
gray image can be used to generate binary images by
Journal of critical reviews
the Fourier signal conversion, then by attenuating or amplifying
different frequencies and reverse the effect. Fourier Transform
(FT) has been widely used for circuit analysis and synthesis, from
filter design to signal processing, image reconstruction, and so
on. Fourier transform is used for an energy signal containing
finite power. Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT) are discrete methods for analyzing time domain
signals. Mathematically, FT is defined for continuous time signals
and, in order to access the frequency domain, the time signal
must be observed from an indefinitely extended time span. It is
important to carefully use the sinus and cosine (or the same
frequency and phase or the real and imaginary). The number of
terms provided in the representation of the Fourier series
depends on the smoothness of the function and the accuracy
defined. A simple low pass sharp cut-off filter that just cuts every
frequency beyond the user specified limit is the following
example. This works by taking the Fourier transform of the
signal, then attenuating or amplifying different frequencies, and
finally inversely transforming the output. The frequency sections
of the signal are expected to drop primarily at low frequencies
and the parameters of the noise would mostly drop at high
frequencies. The customer seeks a cutting frequency that
eliminates the majority of the noise while not distorting the
signal greatly.
thresholding. The simplest threshold techniques substitute this
pixel with a black pixel in a picture if the object intensity is less
than the given constant T or a white pixel if the picture intensity
is more than that constant. It makes the dark tree totally black.
Image thresholding is a simple form of segmentation of the
image. It is a method of converting the gray scale and color
images into a binary image which contains only two levels that is
either dark(0) or white(1). It is the process segmenting
foreground and background.
Figure 4(a) is the ultrasound image of the Ultrasound image of
baby in the mother’s womb and after Image enhancement using
sobel edge detection, Figure 4(b) is the image which is used to
identify the condition of the baby in the mother’s womb.
Figure 4(c) is the ultrasound image of the Ultrasound image of
Kidney and after Image enhancement using sobel edge detection,
Figure 4(d) is the image which is used to identify the condition of
the Kidney and to know that the kideny has any stones or not.If it
has,the sizes of the stones can be known.
Figure 4(e) is the ultrasound image of the Ultrasound image of
Liver and after Image enhancement using sobel edge detection,
Figure 4(f) is the image which is used to identify the condition of
the Liver.
Figures 4(b),(d),(f) gives more efficient view of the Baby in the
mother’s womb, Kidney, Liver respectively to the Doctors.
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 IMAGE ENHANCEMENT FOR ULTRASOUND IMAGES USING SOBEL EDGE DETECTION
Original Image
(a)
(c)
(e)
Fig.4. Results of our proposed method with respect to Baby in Mother’s womb, Kidney and Liver.
CONCLUSIONS
We have tried to address the major problem in the processing of
medical pictures in this project: noise. Medical images like
magnetics, x-rays, ultrasound scans, etc., are an important tool
for diagnosing and researching various diseases. They are also
important. These pictures must be as sharp as possible, given the
increasing importance of their use. Nonetheless, in some cases all
the help to interpret the images is needed. This paper focuses on
ultrasonic images and ultrasound images, and in particular on
the method of eliminating the usual noisy images of this type: the
so-called speckle noise.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: AUTHORS NOT HAVING ANY CONFLICT OF
INTEREST.
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