An adaptive non-local means filter for denoising live-cell images and improving particle detection

作者：Yang Lei; Parton Richard; Ball Graeme; Qiu Zhen; Greenaway Alan H; Davis Ilan; Lu Weiping^*

来源：Journal of Structural Biology, 2010, 172(3): 233-243.

DOI：10.1016/j.jsb.2010.06.019

• Denoising
• Particle detection
• Feature extraction
• Non-local means filter
• Drosophila
• Microtubules

Fluorescence imaging of dynamical processes in live cells often results in a low signal-to-noise ratio. We present a novel feature-preserving non-local means approach to denoise such images to improve feature recovery and particle detection. The commonly used non-local means filter is not optimal for noisy biological images containing small features of interest because image noise prevents accurate determination of the correct coefficients for averaging, leading to over-smoothing and other artifacts. Our adaptive method addresses this problem by constructing a particle feature probability image, which is based on Haar-like feature extraction. The particle probability image is then used to improve the estimation of the correct coefficients for averaging. We show that this filter achieves higher peak signal-to-noise ratio in denoised images and has a greater capability in identifying weak particles when applied to synthetic data. We have applied this approach to live-cell images resulting in enhanced detection of end-binding-protein 1 foci on dynamically extending microtubules in photo-sensitive Drosophila tissues. We show that our feature-preserving non-local means filter can reduce the threshold of imaging conditions required to obtain meaningful data.

• 出版日期2010-12