Method and apparatus for automatically tracing line-structure images
AssigneeRensselaer Polytechnic Institute
InventorsKhalid Al-Kofahi, Badrinath Roysam, James N. Turner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for rapid, fully automatic, two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) tracing of line-structure images, such as images of neurons produced by fluorescence confocal microscopy. A method of recursively following the line-structure topology, guided by the correlation response of a set of 4×N2 directional kernels in the 3-D case, and a set of 2×N directional kernels in the 2-D case, is presented. These kernels are derived based on a generalized cylinder model of the line-structures. The automatic tracing method includes a protocol for determining the ends of line-structures.
Claims24
A method of automatically tracing a line-structure comprising an end in an image, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. locating a seed point;
- b. defining a position and a direction for the seed point;
- c. tracing a centerline of the line-structure from the seed point;
- and
- d. stopping the centerline trace at the line-structure end based on comparing an edge intensity of the line structure at a boundary point surrounding a trace point to a threshold intensity value.
A method of automatically tracing a line-structure comprising an end in an image, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. locating a seed point;
- b. defining a position and a direction for the seed point;
- c. tracing a centerline of the line-structure from the seed point;
- and
- d. stopping the centerline trace at the line-structure end,
- wherein the step of tracing the centerline proceeds in a trace direction, the trace direction being the weighted average of a trace direction at a plurality of boundary points.
A method of automatically tracing a line-structure comprising an end in an image, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. identifying a plurality of candidate seed points in the image;
- b. selecting a seed point from the plurality of candidate seed points, wherein the seed point represents a point on a center axis of a generalized cylinder, the generalized cylinder having a cylindrical surface encompassing the center axis;
- c. determining a plurality of boundary points corresponding to the seed point, the boundary points correlating to a plurality of points on the surface of the generalized cylinder;
- d. determining a boundary point trace direction at each boundary point and determining a direction perpendicular to the boundary point trace direction at each boundary point;
- e. positioning the seed point at an intersection of lines extending from the plurality of boundary points in the direction perpendicular to the boundary point trace direction;
- and
- f. tracing the line-structure to a first trace point on the center axis of the generalized cylinder, the first trace point being a discrete step in the trace direction from the seed point.
An image analyzing system to automatically trace a line-structure comprising an end, the system comprising;
- a. means for locating a seed point on the line-structure in an image;
- b. means for defining a position and direction for the seed point;
- c. means for tracing a centerline of the line-structure from the seed point;
- d. means for stopping the centerline trace at the line-structure end;
- and
- e. means for comparing an edge intensity of the line structure at a boundary point surrounding a trace point to a threshold intensity value.
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform the method steps for automatically tracing a line-structure comprising an end in an image, the method steps comprising:
- a. locating a seed point on the line-structure in an image;
- b. defining a position and direction for the seed point;
- c. tracing a centerline of the line-structure from the seed point;
- and
- d. stopping the centerline trace at the line-structure end based on comparing an edge intensity of the line structure at a boundary point surrounding a trace point to a threshold intensity value.
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform the method steps for automatically tracing a line-structure comprising an end in an image, the method steps comprising;
- a. identifying a plurality of candidate seed points in the image;
- b. selecting a seed point from the plurality of candidate seed points, wherein the selected seed point represents a point on a center axis of a generalized cylinder, the generalized cylinder having a cylindrical surface encompassing the center axis;
- c. determining a plurality of boundary points corresponding to the selected seed point, the boundary points correlating to a plurality of points on the surface of the generalized cylinder;
- d. determining a boundary point trace direction at each boundary point and determining a direction perpendicular to the boundary point trace direction at each boundary point;
- e. positioning the selected seed point at an intersection of lines extending from the plurality of boundary points in the direction perpendicular to the boundary point trace direction;
- and
- f. tracing the line-structure to a first trace point on the center axis of the generalized cylinder, the first trace point being a discrete step in the trace direction from the selected seed point.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.