Histogram based contrast enhancement for mammogram images

Abstract

Early detection of breast cancer in the mammograms is very essential in the field of medicine. Contrast enhancement for the detection of micro calcification of mammograms based on the Histogram Modified Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (HM-CLAHE) is presented. Histogram equalization is an effective and simple technique for contrast enhancement. The standard histogram equalization (HE) usually results in excessive contrast enhancement because of lack of control on the level of enhancement. The Histogram Modified Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (HM CLAHE) is proposed in this paper to adjust the level of contrast enhancement, which in turn gives the resultant image a strong contrast and brings the local details for more relevant interpretation. It incorporates both histogram modifications as an optimization technique and Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization. This method is tested for Mias mammogram images. The performance of this method is determined using the parameter like Enhancement Measure (EME). From the subjective and quantitative measures it is interesting that this proposed technique provides better contrast enhancement with preserving the local information of the mammogram images.