Method and apparatus for fast detection of lesions

A method of determining regions of interest in an image that is an array of image elements comprising the steps of:

• at each image element in the image, determining if the image element is a portion of a line and determining the direction of the line, if any;
• generating a cumulative array of cells that identifies regions of interest in the image by:
• at each image element in the image that is a portion of a line, using the line direction to define a region in the cumulative array along said line, and
• at each cell in the cumulative array within the region defined with the line direction, incrementing a numerical value associated with the cell;
• and
• identifying regions of interest in the image by identifying those cells in the cumulative array that have numerical values that are local extrema.

A method of determining regions of interest in an image that is an array of image elements comprising the steps of:

• at each image element in the image, determining if the image element contains a directional feature and determining directional information representative of the directional feature, if any;
• generating a cumulative array of cells that identifies regions of interest in the image by:
• at each image element in the image that contains a directional feature, using the directional information to define a region in the cumulative array, and
• at each cell in the cumulative array within the region defined with the directional information, incrementing a numerical value associated with the cell;
• and
• identifying regions of interest in the image by identifying those cells in the cumulative array that have numerical values that are local extrema.