Edge detection in ultrasonic images using Gabor filters

An integration method of speckle suppression and edge detection in ultrasonic images using Gabor filters is presented. In this approach, the logarithm is firstly applied to the ultrasonic images in order to convert the multiplicative noise into the additive noise case. The wavelet based denoising is adopted in order to remove the speckle noise in ultrasonic images. Next, the inverse wavelet transform is computed and applied the inverse logarithm. In the edge detection process, the wavelet transform using Gabor filters is applied using the third and fourth scales. The wavelet transform coefficients of the edges candidate are combined using the alternative to product with shift method where the shifting edge locations through multiple scales are considered for robust edge detection in the presence of noise. Finally, the nonmaxima suppression is used to get the final result. The result reveals that the proposed method leads to a useful method for edge detection in ultrasonic images. Also, the method is general and can be applied to other images.