Teaching learning based optimization-functional link artificial neural network filter for mixed noise reduction from magnetic resonance image.

BACKGROUND: The clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images may get corrupted due to the presence of the mixture of different types of noises such as Rician, Gaussian, impulse, etc. Most of the available filtering algorithms are noise specific, linear, and non-adaptive.

OBJECTIVE: There is a need to develop a nonlinear adaptive filter that adapts itself according to the requirement and effectively applied for suppression of mixed noise from different MRI images.

METHODS: In view of this, a novel nonlinear neural network based adaptive filter i.e. functional link artificial neural network (FLANN) whose weights are trained by a recently developed derivative free meta-heuristic technique i.e. teaching learning based optimization (TLBO) is proposed and implemented.

RESULTS: The performance of the proposed filter is compared with five other adaptive filters and analyzed by considering quantitative metrics and evaluating the nonparametric statistical test. The convergence curve and computational time are also included for investigating the efficiency of the proposed as well as competitive filters.

CONCLUSION: The simulation outcomes of proposed filter outperform the other adaptive filters. The proposed filter can be hybridized with other evolutionary technique and utilized for removing different noise and artifacts from others medical images more competently.