1. A method of analyzing a region of interest in an original image having at least one feature to extract at least one robust feature, comprising the steps of: passing signals representing the original image through a first filter to obtain signals representing a smoothed image; performing a profile analysis on the signals representing the smoothed image to determine a signal representing a size value for any feature in the original image; performing an analysis on the signals representing the size values determined by the profile analysis to determine a signal representing a most frequently occurring size value; selecting an optimal filter based on the determined signal representing the most frequently occurring size value; and passing the signals representing the original image through the optimal filter to obtain signals representing an optimally filtered image having an optimally high signal-to-noise ratio.