System and method for toboggan-based object segmentation using distance transform

A program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for segmenting an object in a digital image, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a digital image comprising a plurality of intensities corresponding to a domain of points in a N-dimensional space;
• computing a distance map for a plurality of points in said image;
• tobogganing each of said plurality of points in said image based on said distance map;
• selecting a plurality of clusters, wherein said selected clusters are associated with a set of labels;
• selecting one of said plurality of clusters;
• identifying surface points based on said distance map, wherein a surface point is a point on a border of an object of interest;
• computing a centroid of the surface points;
• and
• adding to said selected cluster those points corresponding to other labeled clusters within a preset distance from said centroid.