An image enhancement system and method for enhancing medical images from a surgical imaging system. Each image pixel has a value in a first three-dimensional color space. A mapping of values in a subset of the first color space is calculated to map each color point in the subset to an enhanced value. The mapping is calculated by selecting a reference point in the subset and, for each color point in the subset, mapping the color point to a modified color value offset from the reference point by the modified color point vector that has the same direction as the color point vector extending from the reference point to the color point, but a greater magnitude. The mapping is applied to the pixel values in the medical image falling in the subset to produce an enhanced image.