CONVOLUTION FILTERING OF SIMILARITY DATA FOR VISUAL DISPLAY OF ENHANCED IMAGE

A similarity value of data elements is modified to provide an improved image of an object. Using an appropriate sensor, data is collected from an object and stored as a plurality of discrete data points. The data points are compared to each other to determine how similar the data properties of one data element are to another data element. A similarity value is assigned to each of the data elements representative of the difference between the properties of the two data elements. The similarity value for each particular data element is then modified based on a weighted similarity value of the data element itself and a group of adjacent data elements. The modified similarity value is then stored for each data element and used to produce an image representative of the object.