An Improved Gradient Based Joint Histogram Equalization Technique for Mammogram Image Contrast Enhancement

Mammogram image analysis is an important domain in the image-based diagnosis process. It is a trusted modality of non-invasive imaging for detecting tumour regions in the breast mass. In this context, the poor contrast in the mammogram images is a key challenging issue. To address the issue, we suggest an Improved Gradient based Joint Histogram Equalization (IGJHE) method for enhancing the poor contrast in the mammogram images while restoring the structural information. The basic idea is to preserve the multi-scale structural details using an improved Gradient filtering approach. Further, to enrich the performance of the histogram equalization, we incorporated the spatial information of each data point in the enhancement process. The suggested method is evaluated using a number of mammogram images from standard datasets. The performance of the suggested approach is validated in comparison to the state-of-the-art schemes. The quantitative assessment is performed using some extensive validation metrics. The results indicate the outperformance of the suggested approach.