Fuzzy image restoration for noise reduction based on dempster-shafer theory

A novel decision-based fuzzy averaging filter consisting of a new Dempster-Shafer (D-S) noise detector and a two-pass noise filtering mechanism is proposed. Bodies of evidence are extracted, and the basic belief assignment is developed, avoiding the counter-intuitive problem of Dempster´s combination rule. The combination belief value can be the decision rule for the D-S noise detector. A fuzzy averaging method where the weights are constructed using a predefined fuzzy set is developed to achieve noise cancellation. Besides that, a simple second-pass filter is also employed to improve the final filtering performance. Experimental results have confirmed the proposed filter outperforms other decision-based filters in terms of both noise suppression and detail preservation.