Ultrasound image edge detection based on a novel multiplicative gradient and Canny operator

To achieve the fast and accurate segmentation of ultrasound image, a novel edge detection method for speckle noised ultrasound images was proposed, which was based on the traditional Canny and a novel multiplicative gradient operator. The proposed technique combines a new multiplicative gradient operator of non-Newtonian type with the traditional Canny operator to generate the initial edge map, which is subsequently optimized by the following edge tracing step. To verify the proposed method, we compared it with several other edge detection methods that had good robustness to noise, with experiments on the simulated and in vivo medical ultrasound image. Experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm has higher speed for real-time processing, and the edge detection accuracy could be 75% or more. Thus, the proposed method is very suitable for fast and accurate edge detection of medical ultrasound images.