A medical feature enhancing speckle suppression technique based on a noise model for the speckle noise as represented in the B-scan image.

In this paper we introduce a new speckle suppression technique for medical ultrasound images, based on a noise model for the speckle noise as represented in the B-scan image. Using this model and prior statistics ensuing from it we are able to distinguish speckle noise from important resolvable details. All individual speckles are located, and exploiting our knowledge on the speckle classification, the filter removes the noise speckles, while it preserves valuable details. We conclude with comparing the results of the proposed technique with two classical speckle suppression methods. keywords: ultrasound, speckle, morphology, filter, neonatal brain