Patent ID: 9646366
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: G06T

Claim:
1. A method of enhancing medical images, the method comprising: receiving a medical image comprising a plurality of pixels having respective pixel values; creating an unsharp mask UM of the medical image; and enhancing, with processing circuitry, the medical image utilizing an enhancement function, wherein the enhancement function varies depending upon the pixel value of a respective pixel of the unsharp mask UM, and wherein enhancing the medical image comprises modifying the unsharp mask UM following creation of the unsharp mask UM in accordance with the enhancement function to create an enhanced blurred image by determining a threshold T based on the unsharp mask UM, determining a relationship of the pixel value of the respective pixel of the unsharp mask UM to the threshold T and then adding or subtracting an additional term that includes and is based upon the threshold T to the pixel value of the respective pixel of the unsharp mask UM dependent upon the relationship of the pixel value of the respective pixel of the unsharp mask UM to the threshold T, and combining the medical image with the enhanced blurred image by adding the enhanced blurred image to the medical image to create a sharpened image.