TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparative study of two image space noise reduction methods for computed tomography
T2 - bilateral filter and nonlocal means.
AU - Giraldo, Juan C Ramirez
AU - Kelm, Zachary S.
AU - Guimaraes, Luis S.
AU - Yu, Lifeng
AU - Fletcher, Joel Garland
AU - Erickson, Bradley J
AU - McCollough, Cynthia H
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Optimal noise control is important for improving image quality and reducing radiation dose in computed tomography. Here we investigated two image space based nonlinear filters for noise reduction: the bilateral filter (BF) and the nonlocal means (NLM) algorithm. Images from both methods were compared against those from a commercially available weighted filtered backprojection (WFBP) method. A standard phantom for quality assurance testing was used to quantitatively compare noise and spatial resolution, as well as low contrast detectability (LCD). Additionally, an image dataset from a patient's abdominal CT exam was used to assess the effectiveness of the filters on full dose and simulated half dose acquisitions. We found that both the BF and NLM methods improve the tradeoff between noise and high contrast spatial resolution with no significant difference in LCD. Results from the patient dataset demonstrated the potential of dose reduction with the denoising methods. Care must be taken when choosing the NLM parameters in order to minimize the generation of artifacts that could possibly compromise diagnostic value.
AB - Optimal noise control is important for improving image quality and reducing radiation dose in computed tomography. Here we investigated two image space based nonlinear filters for noise reduction: the bilateral filter (BF) and the nonlocal means (NLM) algorithm. Images from both methods were compared against those from a commercially available weighted filtered backprojection (WFBP) method. A standard phantom for quality assurance testing was used to quantitatively compare noise and spatial resolution, as well as low contrast detectability (LCD). Additionally, an image dataset from a patient's abdominal CT exam was used to assess the effectiveness of the filters on full dose and simulated half dose acquisitions. We found that both the BF and NLM methods improve the tradeoff between noise and high contrast spatial resolution with no significant difference in LCD. Results from the patient dataset demonstrated the potential of dose reduction with the denoising methods. Care must be taken when choosing the NLM parameters in order to minimize the generation of artifacts that could possibly compromise diagnostic value.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 19964998
SN - 1557-170X
SP - 3529
EP - 3532
JO - Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Conference
JF - Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Conference
ER -