Boundary extraction method

A computer program product including a non-transitory computer storage medium comprising one of volatile media and nonvolatile media and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the non-transitory computer storage medium for extracting a boundary from a digital image, comprising:

• a computer code module configured to receive feature data comprising a plurality of feature data points representing pixel locations indicative of a presence of a specific feature in the image;
• a computer code module configured to receive a set of edge data comprising a plurality of edge data points representing pixel locations indicative of a boundary between the specific feature and an adjoining area in the image;
• a computer code module configured to receive data indicative of a selection of one of a clockwise and a counterclockwise direction of the boundary;
• a computer code module configured to transform the edge data into a set of mean edge data comprising a plurality of mean edge data points ei;
• a computer code module configured to identify a first nearest neighbor mean edge point ei−1 in a first direction and a second nearest neighbor mean edge point ei+1 in a second direction;
• a computer code module configured to assign each mean edge data point ei one of a head and a tail based on an orientation of ei with respect to the feature and the predetermined one of a clockwise and a counterclockwise boundary direction to transform the set of mean edge data points into an ordered set of boundary data points;
• wherein the boundary data points are capable of being joined to form a plurality of ordered boundary segments, the ordered boundary segments being capable of being joined to form a closed loop in the predetermined direction.