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US 7,623,728 B2Granted
Method and product for processing digital images
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsGopal B. Avinash, Rakesh Mohan Lal
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and computer program product for processing a digital image is disclosed. A foreground region relating to an imaged object is estimated, a background region relating to other than the imaged object is estimated, and by using the image, the estimated foreground region and the estimated background region, a transition region disposed between the foreground region and the background region is calculated. The estimated foreground region, the estimated background region, and the calculated transition region, each include a separate set of pixels that may each be processed separately for suppressing pixel intensities in the estimated background region and improving image quality.
Claims21
A method for processing a digital image, the method comprising:
- acquiring a digital first image of a biological object;
- estimating a foreground region from the first image relating to the biological object, wherein the estimating of a foreground region includes defining an initial foreground region as that region containing those pixels of the first image meeting a first criterion;
- estimating a background region from the first image relating to other than the biological object, wherein the estimating a background region includes defining the background region as that region containing those pixels of the first image meeting a second criterion;
- and
- by using the first image, the estimated foreground region and the estimated background region, calculating a transition region disposed between the foreground region and the background region by a gradient constrained hysteresis threshold method, wherein pixels of the transition region meet a third criterion;
- wherein the estimated foreground region, the estimated background region, and the calculated transition region, each comprise a separate set of pixels that may each be processed separately for suppressing pixel intensities in the estimated background region and improving image quality;
- iteratively calculating incremental transition regions, each having an incrementally larger gradient tolerance value, until a gradient tolerance value threshold is met or exceeded, wherein:
- each incremental transition region is calculated to be that region containing pixels connected to a pixel of a previously calculated incremental transition region, having an intensity greater than the second threshold, and having a gradient magnitude that is within the incrementally larger gradient tolerance value of the gradient magnitude of the incremental transition region pixel to which it is connected;
- and,
- generating a second image of the biological object when the gradient tolerance value threshold is met or exceeded.
7 more elements
A program storage medium, readable by a computer, storing a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform a method for processing a digital image, comprising:
- estimating a foreground region relating to an imaged object;
- estimating a background region relating to other than the imaged object;
- and
- by using the image, the estimated foreground region and the estimated background region, calculating a transition region disposed between the foreground region and the background region;
- wherein the estimated foreground region, the estimated background region, and the calculated transition region, each comprise a separate set of pixels that may each be processed separately for suppressing pixel intensities in the estimated background region and improving image quality;
- wherein the calculating a transition region further includes iteratively calculating incremental transition regions, each having an incrementally larger gradient tolerance value, until a gradient tolerance value threshold is met or exceeded;
- wherein each incremental transition region is calculated to be that region containing pixels connected to a pixel of a previously calculated incremental transition region, having an intensity greater than the second threshold, and having a gradient magnitude that is within the incrementally larger gradient tolerance value of the gradient magnitude of the incremental transition region pixel to which it is connected.
4 more elements
A method for processing a digital image, the method comprising:
- acquiring a digital first image of a biological object;
- estimating a foreground region from the first image relating to the biological object as a region containing those pixels of the first image that have an intensity greater than a first threshold;
- estimating a background region from the first image relating to other than the biological object as a region containing those pixels of the first image that have and intensity less than a second threshold;
- by using the first image, the estimated foreground region and the estimated background region, calculating an initial transition region by a gradient constrained hysteresis threshold method, said initial transition region being disposed between the foreground region and the background region;
- defining a plurality of incremental transition regions from the initial transition region, wherein each of the plurality of incremental transition regions each have an incrementally larger gradient tolerance value;
- wherein the estimated foreground region, the estimated background region, and the calculated transition region, each comprise a separate set of pixels that may each be processed separately and independently of each other for suppressing pixel intensities in the estimated background region and improving image quality to generate a second image of the biological object.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.