Inter-scale wavelet analysis for speckle reduction in thyroid ultrasound images

A wavelet-based method for speckle suppression in ultrasound images of the thyroid gland is introduced. The classification of image pixels as speckle or part of important image structures is accomplished within the framework of back-propagation tracking and singularity detection of wavelet transform modulus maxima, derived from inter-scale analysis. A comparative study with other de-speckling techniques, employing quantitative indices, demonstrated that our method achieved superior speckle reduction performance and edge preservation properties. Moreover, a questionnaire regarding qualitative imaging parameters, emanating from various visual observations, was employed by two experienced physicians in order to evaluate the algorithm's speckle suppression efficiency. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.