Method of generating multiscale contrast enhanced image

1. A method of enhancing the contrast of an image that is represented by a digital signal, comprising:

a computer creating at least one approximation image at one or multiple scales, an approximation image at a scale representing the grey values of said image in which all details at that scale have been omitted;

the computer creating translation difference images by pixel-wise subtracting the values of an approximation image at scale s and the values of a translated version of said approximation image;

the computer non-linearly modifying the values of said translation difference image;

the computer computing at least one enhanced center difference image at a specific scale by combining said modified translation difference images at that scale or a smaller scale with weights w i,j in which said weights w i,j are selected such that, if no enhancement is performed, an equivalent of a multi-scale decomposition of said image is obtained; and

the computer computing an enhanced image by applying a reconstruction algorithm to the enhanced center difference images.

2. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the computer computing a translation difference image at a specific scale out of an approximation image at the same scale.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein all of said translation difference images are computed out of the original image.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein a translation difference image at a scale k is computed out of an approximation image at scale m, wherein m represents a scale between scale 1 and scale k−1.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the center difference images are identical to the multi-scale detail images.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein said image is a mammographic image.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein said image is a CT image.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium in which a computer software product is implemented, the computer software product for enhancing the contrast of an image that is represented by a digital signal, the computer software product including program instructions, which instructions, when read by a computer, cause the computer to:

create at least one approximation image at one or multiple scales, an approximation image at a scale representing the grey values of said image in which all details at that scale have been omitted;

create translation difference images by pixel-wise subtracting the values of an approximation image at scale s and the values of a translated version of said approximation image;

non-linearly modify the values of said translation difference image;

compute at least one enhanced center difference image at a specific scale by combining said modified translation difference images at that scale or a smaller scale with weights w i,j whereby said weights w i,j are selected such that, if no enhancement is performed, an equivalent of a multi-scale decomposition of said image is obtained; and

compute an enhanced image by applying a reconstruction algorithm to the enhanced center difference images.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium in which computer software is implemented, the computer software for enhancing the contrast of an image that is represented by a digital signal, the computer software when executed by a computer, causes the computer to:

create at least one approximation image at one or multiple scales, an approximation image at a scale representing the grey values of said image in which all details at that scale have been omitted;

create translation difference images by pixel-wise subtracting the values of an approximation image at scale s and the values of a translated version of said approximation image;

non-linearly modify the values of said translation difference image;

compute at least one enhanced center difference image at a specific scale by combining said modified translation difference images at that scale or a smaller scale with weights w i,j whereby said weights w i,j are selected such that, if no enhancement is performed, an equivalent of a multi-scale decomposition of said image is obtained; and

compute an enhanced image by applying a reconstruction algorithm to the enhanced center difference images.

10. A method of enhancing the contrast of an image that is represented by a digital signal, comprising:

a computer creating at least one approximation image at one or multiple scales, an approximation image at a scale representing the grey values of said image in which all details at that scale have been omitted;

the computer creating translation difference images by pixel-wise subtracting the values of an approximation image at the scale and the values of a translated version of said approximation image;

the computer modifying the values of said translation difference image;

the computer computing at least one enhanced center difference image at a specific scale by combining said modified translation difference images at that scale or a smaller scale with weights; and

the computer computing an enhanced image by applying a reconstruction algorithm to the enhanced center difference images.

11. The computer software of claim 9 , wherein the software, when executed by the computer, further causes the computer to compute a translation difference image at a specific scale out of an approximation image at the same scale.

12. The computer software of claim 9 , wherein all of said translation difference images are computed out of the original image.

13. The computer software of claim 9 , wherein a translation difference image at a scale k is computed out of an approximation image at scale m, wherein m represents a scale between scale 1 and scale k−1.

14. The computer software of claim 9 , wherein the center difference images are identical to the multi-scale detail images.

15. The computer software of claim 9 , wherein said image is a mammographic image.

16. The computer software of claim 9 , wherein said image is a CT image.

17. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising the computer computing a translation difference image at a specific scale out of an approximation image at the same scale.

18. A method according to claim 10 , wherein all of said translation difference images are computed out of the original image.

19. A method according to claim 10 , wherein said image is a mammographic image.

20. A method according to claim 10 , wherein said image is a CT image.