Enhancing mammography: a comprehensive review of computer methods for improving image quality

Mammography imaging remains the gold standard for breast cancer detection and diagnosis, but challenges in image quality can lead to misdiagnosis, increased radiation exposure, and higher healthcare costs. This comprehensive review evaluates traditional and machine learning-based techniques for improving mammography image quality, aiming to benefit clinicians and enhance diagnostic accuracy. Our literature search, spanning 2015 - 2024, identified 115 articles focusing on contrast enhancement and noise reduction methods, including histogram equalization, filtering, unsharp masking, fuzzy logic, transform-based techniques, and advanced machine learning approaches. Machine learning, particularly architectures integrating denoising autoencoders with convolutional neural networks, emerged as highly effective in enhancing image quality without compromising detail. The discussion highlights the success of these techniques in improving mammography images' visual quality. However, challenges such as high noise ratios, inconsistent evaluation metrics, and limited open-source datasets persist. Addressing these issues offers opportunities for future research to further advance mammography image enhancement methodologies.