SDI: New metric for quantification of speckle noise in ultrasound imaging

In ultrasound images a special type of acoustic noise, technically known as speckle noise, is the major factor of image quality degradation. In order to improve the image quality by means of speckle suppression and thus to increase the diagnostic potential of medical ultrasound, it is important to quantify the speckle. This paper describes, quality metrics for speckle in coherent imaging and their limitations. It also describes a new metric-SDI, its uniqueness in quantifying the speckle and comparison of performance with existing metrics. Empirical verification of SDI with a set of Test Images proves its speckle quantification in ultrasound. A subjective criterion is also taken into account to support the results.