Improved Quantum Image Median Filtering in the Spatial Domain

In some image processing algorithms, such as those for image feature extraction and segmentation, filtering is a significant pre-processing step to remove noises and improve image quality. An improved quantum image median filtering approach is proposed, and its corresponding quantum circuit is designed in this work. The main idea of the approach is that first the classical image is converted into a quantum version based on the novel enhanced quantum representation (NEQR) of digital images, and then a unique quantum module is designed to realize the median calculation of neighborhood pixels for each pixel point in the image. Finally, in order to improve the filtering effect, extremum detection is employed to distinguish noises from true signals. The experimental results show that a competitive filtering performance is obtained compared with previous methods. In addition, a network complexity analysis of the quantum circuit suggests that the proposed filtering approach can perform enormous speed-up over its corresponding classical counterparts.