An effective 2-stage method for removing impulse noise in images

In this paper, a robust 2-stage impulse noise removal system is proposed to remove impulse noise from extremely corrupted images. The contributions are in two-fold. First, a neuro-fuzzy based impulse noise detector (NFIDET) is introduced to identify the noisy pixels. NFIDET is a powerful noise detector that can handle image corruption even up to 90% with zero miss and false detection rate with a simple neuro-fuzzy structure. This is the best result among the other impulse noise detectors in the literature. Second, this paper presents a new approach for weight calculation of adaptive weighted mean filter by using robust statistical model. An adaptive robust weighted mean (ARWM) filter removes a detected noisy pixel by adaptively determining filtering window size and replacing a noisy pixel with the weighted mean of the noise-free pixels in its window. A Geman–McClure robust estimation function is used to estimate the weights of the pixels. Simulation results also show that the proposed robust filter substantially outperforms many other existing algorithms in terms of image restoration.     

Erratum to: Multi-scale directional-filtering-based method for follicular lymphoma grading

A new decision-based algorithm has been proposed for the restoration of digital images which are highly contaminated by the saturated impulse noise (i.e., salt-and-pepper noise). The proposed denoising algorithm performs filtering operation only to the corrupted pixels in the image, keeping uncorrupted pixels intact. The present study has used a coupled window scheme for the removal of high density noise. It has used sliding window of increasing dimension, centered at any pixel and replaced the noisy pixels consecutively by the median value of the window. However, if the entire pixels in the window are noisy, then the dimension of sliding window is increased in order to obtain the noise-free pixels for median calculation. Consequently, this algorithm has been found to be able to remove the high density salt-and-pepper noise and also preserved the fine details of the four images, Lena, Elaine, Rhythm, and Sunny, used as test images in this study (The latter two real-life images have been acquired using Sony: Steady Shot DSC- S3000). Experimentally, it has been found that the proposed algorithm yields better peak signal-to-noise ratio, image enhancement factor, structural similarity index measure and image quality index, compared with the other state-of-art median-based filters viz. standard median filter, adaptive median filter, progressive switched median filter, modified decision-based algorithm and modified decision-based unsymmetric trimmed median filter.     

脉冲噪声图像的中-均值滤波算法

由于在图像信息的获取和传输过程中,图像常常受到不同程度的脉冲噪声污染。为了有效地去除高浓度脉冲噪声,提出了一种基于中－均值滤波器的噪声去除算法。该方法根据脉冲噪声特点,设定一个简单的噪声检测算子,根据噪声检测结果设定自适应滤波窗口,同时根据噪声密度选择中值和均值滤波器。为了更加有效地保留图像的原有信息,对非噪声点不做滤波处理。仿真结果表明,所提出的中－均值滤波方法不仅能有效地去除高浓度的脉冲噪声,而且能很好地保留图像的原有信息,并具有较短的滤波处理时间。     

基于人眼视觉特性的混合滤波算法

为了有效地滤除混合噪声,本文提出了一种基于人眼视觉特性的混合滤波算法。该方法首先采用基于人眼视觉特性的噪声敏感系数作为阈值来确定脉冲噪声点,对检测出脉冲噪声点采用自适应窗口大小的迭代中值滤波进行滤波,而对于含有高斯噪声的像素点则采用一种保护细节的改进的自适应模糊滤波器进行处理。该算法与标准滤波方法及其它改进混合滤波算法相比,具有更好的滤波性能。     

Recursive cubic spline interpolation filter approach for the removal of high density salt-and-pepper noise

Spline-based approach is proposed to remove very high density salt-and-pepper noise in grayscale and color images. The algorithm consists of two stages, the first stage detects whether the pixel is noisy or noise-free. The second stage removes the noisy pixel by recursive spline interpolation filter. The proposed recursive spline interpolation filter is based on the neighborhood noise-free pixels and previous noise-free output pixel; hence, it is termed as recursive spline interpolation filter. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with the existing algorithms like standard median filter, decision-based filter, progressive switched median filter, and modified decision-based unsymmetric trimmed median filter at very high noise density. The proposed algorithm gives better peak signal-to-noise ratio, image enhancement factor, and correlation factor results than the existing algorithms.     

Monochromatic-Based Method for Impulse Noise Detection and Suppression in Color Images

A new method to detect and reduce the impulse noise in color images is presented in this paper. The method consists of two stages: detection and filtering. Since each of the individual channels (components) of the color image can be considered as a monochrome image, both stages are applied to each channel separately, and then the individual results are combined into one output image. The corrupted pixels are detected in the first stage based on a proposed innovative switching technique. The noise-free pixels are copied to their corresponding locations in the output image. In the second stage, average filtering is applied only to those pixels which are determined to be noisy in the first stage, and only noise-free pixel values are involved in calculating this average. The size of the sliding window depends on the estimated noise density and is very small even for high noise densities. The proposed method is effective in noise reduction while preserving edge details and color chromaticity. Simulation results show that the proposed method outperforms all the tested existing state-of-the-art methods used in digital color image restoration in both standard objective measurements and perceived image quality.     

一种快速去除高密度椒盐噪声的滤波算法

为了更好地恢复被高密度椒盐噪声污染的图像,在传统的自适应中值滤波算法的基础上提出了一种改进的自适应滤波算法。该算法将3×3矩形滤波窗口内极值点视为可疑噪声点,对可疑噪声点自适应调节滤波窗口大小进一步判断是否为噪声点;将噪声点区分为低密度噪声区噪声点和高密度噪声区噪声点,并分别用改进后的中值滤波算法、自适应修正后均值滤波算法处理,信号点保持不变。仿真结果表明,该算法处理速度快并且能够有效恢复被椒盐噪声(密度达80%)污染的图像,在去噪的同时能够很好地保护图像的细节。     

Adaptive median filters: new algorithms and results

Based on two types of image models corrupted by impulse noise, we propose two new algorithms for adaptive median filters. They have variable window size for removal of impulses while preserving sharpness. The first one, called the ranked-order based adaptive median filter (RAMF), is based on a test for the presence of impulses in the center pixel itself followed by a test for the presence of residual impulses in the median filter output. The second one, called the impulse size based adaptive median filter (SAMF), is based on the detection of the size of the impulse noise. It is shown that the RAMF is superior to the nonlinear mean L(p) filter in removing positive and negative impulses while simultaneously preserving sharpness; the SAMF is superior to Lin's (1988) adaptive scheme because it is simpler with better performance in removing the high density impulsive noise as well as nonimpulsive noise and in preserving the fine details. Simulations on standard images confirm that these algorithms are superior to standard median filters.     

A Fast Adaptive Salt and Pepper Noise Reduction Method in Images

In this paper, an effective filtering method is proposed to remove impulse noise from images. In this two-stage method, detected noise-free pixels remain unchanged. Afterwards, a Gaussian filter with adaptive variances according to the image noise level is applied on the noisy pixels. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms recent impulse denoising methods in terms of PSNR, MAE, IEF, and SSIM. Moreover, the speed of the method is comparable with them, and it can be used effectively in real-time applications.     

Switching impulse noise filter based on Laplacian convolution and pixels grouping for color images

This paper presents a new switching filter consisting of three steps to restore color images corrupted by impulse noise. Firstly, Laplacian convolution is performed on pixels in four directions to mark the pixels which are radically different in value from neighboring pixels as noise candidates. Secondly, those missed neighboring pixels involved in the step of pixels grouping decrease the occurrence of false detection. Pixels in the observation window are separated into noisy pixels and normal pixels with a dividing threshold, whose value is assigned according to a noise density estimator. Finally, a modified arithmetic mean filter is applied to restore the polluted image. Extensive experiments show that the proposed method achieves better performance than comparative methods in terms of peak-signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity. The proposed method can effectively remove impulse noise in which noise density is varying from 10 to 80%.     

A Fuzzy Switching Median Filter of Impulses in Digital Imagery (FSMF)

This paper proposed a fuzzy-based switching technique that aims at detection and filtering of impulse noises from digital images. Two types of noise models are used to obtain the noisy images. In this two-step process, the noise-free pixels are remained unchanged. The proposed detection algorithm uses 5 \(\times \) 5 window, based on all neighboring pixels on the center of the window of a noisy pixel. Two weighted median filters are devised, and a particular one is applied selectively to the noisy pixel based on the characteristics of the neighboring pixels within the window. Instead of a single threshold, two threshold values are used in the proposed fuzzy membership function to partition the noise level, and accordingly, a filtering method is applied to restore the corrupted pixel. Experimental results show that the proposed technique outperforms the existing impulse denoising methods in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio and visual effects, with a comparable time complexity with the existing methods.     

High performance detection filter for impulse noise removal in images

A high performance detection (HPD) filter is proposed for impulse noise removal in images. In this approach, the noisy pixels are detected iteratively through several phases, based on a set of unique similarity criteria. Simulation results show that the HPD filter outperforms others at medium to high noise rates and suppresses impulse noise effectively while preserving image details, even thin lines.     

Removal of impulse noise from color images based on the localized image characteristics and noise level

The proposed method is a switching vector median filter that utilizes suitable noise detection and restoration algorithms for different impulse noise densities. It works in a multistage manner with an enhancing accuracy of noise detection in each successive stage. The processing window is initially categorized into a non-edge-window and an edge-window, depending on the scale of abrupt transitions. The non-edge-window is further verified to be a smooth-window or a disorder-window, whereas the edge-window is again confirmed to be noise-free or a noisy edge-window. The proposed method is simulated on a variety of medical images and other standard test images to prove its efficiency in detection of noise and restoration.     

An intensity independent fixed valued impulse noise detector for image restoration

Most of the impulse noise detectors used for detection of fixed valued impulse noise are effective only for salt and pepper or a band type noise occurring at the extreme ends of the allowed range of intensity levels. The performance of these detectors deteriorates drastically when fixed valued impulses occur anywhere within the allowed gray scale. In this paper, an impulse detection scheme is proposed which can effectively detect all types of fixed valued impulse noise and also differentiates between noisy and noise-free pixels of identical intensity levels. The improved performance of the proposed method is verified through extensive simulations for various fixed valued impulse noise models.     

A Contrast Enhancement-Based Filter for Removal of Random Valued Impulse Noise

This letter presents a new filtering scheme based on contrast enhancement within the filtering window for removing the random valued impulse noise. The application of a nonlinear function for increasing the difference between a noise-free and noisy pixels results in efficient detection of noisy pixels. As the performance of a filtering system, in general, depends on the number of iterations used, an effective stopping criterion based on noisy image characteristics to determine the number of iterations is also proposed. Extensive simulation results exhibit that the proposed method significantly outperforms many other well-known techniques.      

A new fuzzy-based decision algorithm for high-density impulse noise removal

This paper proposes a new efficient fuzzy-based decision algorithm (FBDA) for the restoration of images that are corrupted with high density of impulse noises. FBDA is a fuzzy-based switching median filter in which the filtering is applied only to corrupted pixels in the image while the uncorrupted pixels are left unchanged. The proposed algorithm computes the difference measure for each pixel based on the central pixel (corrupted pixel) in a selected window and then calculates the membership value for each pixel based on the highest difference. The algorithm then eliminates those pixels from the window with very high and very low membership values, which might represent the impulse noises. Median filter is then applied to the remaining pixels in the window to get the restored value for the current pixel position. The proposed algorithm produces excellent results compared to conventional method such as standard median filter (SMF) as well as some advanced techniques such as adaptive median filters (AMF), efficient decision-based algorithm (EDBA), improved efficient decision-based algorithm (IDBA) and boundary discriminative noise detection (BDND) switching median filter. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is evaluated using different standard images. From experimental analysis, it has been found that FBDA produces better results in terms of both quantitative measures such as PSNR, SSIM, IEF and qualitative measures such as Image Quality Index (IQI).     

A sparsity-ranking edge-preservation filter for removal of high-density impulse noises

In this study, a novel sparsity-ranking edge-preservation filter (SREPF) is proposed for removal of high-density impulse noise in images. Using the sparse matrix representation, the first stage of SREPF is not only to identify the noisy candidates but also to decide the processing order of them via a rank of noise-pixel sparsity in the working window. Then the second stage of SREPF utilizes a modified double Laplacian convolution to confirm the truly noisy pixels and yield a directional mean to recover them. This new approach has achieved more remarkable success rate of the edge detection than other edge-preservation methods especially in high noise ratio over 0.5. As a result, SREPF has significant improvements in terms of edge preservation and noise suppression exhibited by the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the structural similarity index metric (SSIM). Simulation results show that this method is capable of producing better performance compared to several representative filters.     

Noise reduction in brain evoked potentials based on third-order correlations

In this paper, we use third-order correlations (TOC) in developing a filtering technique for the recovery of brain evoked potentials (EPs). The main idea behind the presented technique is to pass the noisy signal through a finite impulse response filter whose impulse response is matched with the shape of the noise-free signal. It is shown that it is possible to estimate the filter impulse response on basis of a selected third-order correlation slice (TOCS) of the input noisy signal. This is justified by two facts. The first one is that the noise-free EPs can be modeled as a sum of damped sinusoidal signals and the selected TOCS preserve the signal structure. The second fact is that the TOCS is insensitive to both Gaussian noise and other symmetrically distributed non-Gaussian noise, (white or colored). Furthermore, the approach can be applied to either nonaveraged or averaged EP observation data. In the nonaveraged data case, the approach therefore preserves information about amplitude and latency changes. Both fixed and adaptive versions of the proposed filtering technique are described. Extensive simulation results are provided to show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed cumulant-based filtering technique in comparison with the conventional correlation-based counterpart.     

Fast switching based median–mean filter for high density salt and pepper noise removal

This paper proposes a fast switching based median–mean filter for high density salt and pepper noise in images. The extreme minimum value and extreme maximum value of the noisy image are used to identify the noise pixels. In the filtering stage, the corrupted pixel is replaced either by median value or mean value based on the number of noise free pixels in the filtering window. The qualitative and quantitative results show that the proposed filter outperforms the other switching based filters namely ACWMF, PSMF, AMF, DBA and MDBUTMF in terms of noise removal and edge preservation for noise densities varying from 10% to 90%.     

基于窗口的自适应中值滤波算法

滤波窗口是影响椒盐噪声滤除效果的重要因素。针对自适应中值滤波算法(RAMF)的不足,提出了一种基于窗口的自适应中值滤波算法。该算法分为噪声的检测和滤除两部分。在噪声检测部分,主要通过混合窗口检测出准噪声点,将其用窗口中值代替,而其余信号点保持不变。重复此方法,直至所有的准噪声点处理完毕。然后,在噪声滤除部分,主要根据噪声密度选择合适的最大滤波窗口半径,进而实现噪声滤除。最后,为验证算法的有效性开展了仿真研究,仿真结果表明本算法对椒盐噪声的滤除具有很好的效果,增强了图像的清晰度。