Method and system for identifying extended contours within digital images
First Claim
1. An image-processing subsystem comprising:
- one or more memories; and
one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, to;
receive a digital image,identify seed pixels within the digital image coincident with intensity edges, andfor each of the seed pixels,construct an incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel, wherein to construct the incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel, the processor to;
determine a contour direction for the incipient contour line segment;
construct a first vector with a tail coincident with the seed pixel, an orientation direction equal to the determined contour direction, and a length equal to a value of a segment parameter; and
include a segment with endpoints coincident with the tail and a head of the first vector as a first segment in a multi-segment contour,iteratively extend both ends of the incipient contour line segment along an intensity edge to generate an extended contour line segment, andstore the extended contour line segment in the one or more memories.
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Abstract
The current document is directed to automated methods and systems, controlled by various constraints and parameters, that identify contours in digital images, including curved contours. Certain of these parameters constrain contour identification to those contours in which the local curvature of a contour does not exceed a threshold local curvature and to those contours orthogonal to intensity gradients of at least threshold magnitudes. The currently described methods and systems identify seed points within a digital image, extend line segments from the seed points as an initial contour coincident with the seed point, and then iteratively extend the initial contour by adding line segments to one or both ends of the contour. The identified contours are selectively combined and filtered in order to identify a set of relevant contours for use in subsequent image-processing tasks.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An image-processing subsystem comprising:
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one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, to; receive a digital image, identify seed pixels within the digital image coincident with intensity edges, and for each of the seed pixels, construct an incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel, wherein to construct the incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel, the processor to; determine a contour direction for the incipient contour line segment; construct a first vector with a tail coincident with the seed pixel, an orientation direction equal to the determined contour direction, and a length equal to a value of a segment parameter; and include a segment with endpoints coincident with the tail and a head of the first vector as a first segment in a multi-segment contour, iteratively extend both ends of the incipient contour line segment along an intensity edge to generate an extended contour line segment, and store the extended contour line segment in the one or more memories. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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receiving, by a processor, a digital image, the processor coupled to one or more memories; identifying, by the processor, seed pixels within the digital image coincident with intensity edges; and for each of multiple seed pixels, constructing, by the processor, an incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel, wherein constructing of the incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel further comprises; determining a contour direction for the incipient contour line segment; constructing a first vector with a tail coincident with the seed pixel, an orientation direction equal to the determined contour direction, and a length equal to a value of a segment parameter; and including a segment with endpoints coincident with the tail and a head of a first vector as the first segment in a multi-segment contour, iteratively extending, by the processor, both ends of the incipient contour line segment along an intensity edge to generate an extended contour line segment, and storing, by the processor, the extended contour line segment in the one or more memories. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. Non-transitory computer-readable media having recorded thereon instructions, that when executed by one or more computer processors coupled to one or more memories, perform operations comprising:
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receiving a digital image; identifying seed pixels within the digital image coincident with intensity edges; and
for each of the seed pixels,constructing an incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel, wherein constructing of the incipient contour line segment that includes the respective seed pixel further comprises; determining a contour direction for the incipient contour line segment; constructing a first vector with a tail coincident with the seed pixel, an orientation direction equal to the determined contour direction, and a length equal to a value of a segment parameter; and including a segment with endpoints coincident with the tail and a head of the first vector as a first segment in a multi-segment contour, iteratively extending both ends of the incipient contour line segment along an intensity edge to generate an extended contour line segment, and storing the extended contour line segment in the one or more memories.
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Specification