Title: Histogram-modified local contrast enhancement for mammogram images

Authors: M. Sundaram; K. Ramar; N. Arumugam; G. Prabin

Addresses: Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Engineering College, Kovilpatti 628 503, India ' Einstein College of Engineering, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India ' Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Engineering College, Kovilpatti 628 503, India ' Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Engineering College, Kovilpatti 628 503, India

Abstract: Early detection of breast cancer in the mammograms is essential in the field of medicine. Contrast enhancement of mammograms based on Histogram Equalisation (HE) is presented. The standard HE usually results in excessive contrast enhancement because of the lack of control on the level of enhancement. The Histogram-Modified Local Contrast Enhancement (HMLCE) is introduced in this paper to adjust the level of contrast enhancement, which in turn gives the resultant image a strong contrast and brings the local details for more relevant interpretation. It incorporates both histogram modifications as an optimisation technique and an LCE technique. This method is tested for Mias mammogram images. The performance of this method is determined using three parameters like Enhancement Measure (EME), Absolute Mean Brightness Error (AMBE) and Discrete Entropy (H). From these measures, the proposed technique provides better contrast enhancement while preserving the local information of the mammogram images.

Keywords: histogram equalisation; histogram modification; local contrast enhancement; mammogram images; enhancement measure absolute mean brightness error; AMBE; discrete entropy; early detection; breast cancer; mammograms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2012.047371

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2012 Vol.9 No.1, pp.60 - 71

Published online: 12 Dec 2014 *

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