Image processing apparatus and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An image processing apparatus comprising:
- image acquiring means for acquiring an image including a desired portion of an object to be examined;
image memory means for temporarily storing the acquired image; and
outline extracting means for extracting an area of interest from a desired portion of the object whereinsaid outline extracting means includeslong axis setting means for setting a long axis in a first direction of the image,first profile generating means for drawing a plurality of lines on the image in a second direction perpendicular to the long axis so as to divide the image stored in said image memory means into a plurality of areas, and generating a plurality of first profile data for the respective perpendicular lines,density setting means for searching a background area outside the area of interest and an inner area inside the area of interest on the basis of the first profile data, and obtaining densities of the background area and the Inner area,threshold value determining means for determining a threshold value for each of the plurality of divided areas on the basis of a weighted mean of the densities of the background area and the inner area, andoutline setting means for determining an outline point constituting a boundary between the outside and inside of the area of interest by using the threshold values determined for the respective first profile data, and connecting the outline points.
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Abstract
An image processor acquires an image including a desired portion of an object to be examined. An image memory temporarily stores the acquired image, and an outline is extracted from an area of interest from the desired portion of the object. The outline is extracted by dividing the image stored in the image memory into plural areas using parallel lines, and a threshold value is set for each of the plural divided areas. Points having values exceeding the threshold values are connected.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. An image processing apparatus comprising:
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image acquiring means for acquiring an image including a desired portion of an object to be examined; image memory means for temporarily storing the acquired image; and outline extracting means for extracting an area of interest from a desired portion of the object wherein said outline extracting means includes long axis setting means for setting a long axis in a first direction of the image, first profile generating means for drawing a plurality of lines on the image in a second direction perpendicular to the long axis so as to divide the image stored in said image memory means into a plurality of areas, and generating a plurality of first profile data for the respective perpendicular lines, density setting means for searching a background area outside the area of interest and an inner area inside the area of interest on the basis of the first profile data, and obtaining densities of the background area and the Inner area, threshold value determining means for determining a threshold value for each of the plurality of divided areas on the basis of a weighted mean of the densities of the background area and the inner area, and outline setting means for determining an outline point constituting a boundary between the outside and inside of the area of interest by using the threshold values determined for the respective first profile data, and connecting the outline points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An image processing method comprising:
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the first step of acquiring an image including a desired portion of an object to be examined; the second step of temporarily storing the acquired image; and the third step of extracting an area of interest from the desired portion of the object, wherein the third step includes the substeps of setting a long axis in a first direction of the image to divide the image stored in said image memory means into a plurality of areas, drawing a plurality of perpendicular lines on the image in a second direction perpendicular to the long axis, and generating a plurality of first profile data for the respective perpendicular lines searching a background area outside the area of interest and an inner area inside the area of interest on the basis of each of the first profile data, and obtaining densities of the background area and the inner area, determining a threshold value for each of the plurality of divided areas on the basis of an average of a sum of the densities of the background area and the inner area, and determining outline points constituting a boundary between the outside and inside of the area of interest by using the threshold values determined for the respective first profile data, and connecting outline points.
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Specification