Digital imag
e
processing
Lecture 36
Introduction
0 Morphology: a branch of biology that deals with the
form and structure of animals and plants
0 Morphological image processing is used to extract
image components for representation and description
of region shape, such as boundaries, skeletons, and
the convex hull
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Preliminaries (1)
0 Reflection
, is defined as
The reflection of a set B, denoted B
{w | w b, for b B}
B
0 Translation
The translation of a set B by point z ( z1, z2 ), denoted ( B) Z ,
is defined as
( B) Z {c | c b z, for b B}
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Example: Reflection and Translation
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Preliminaries (2)
0 Structure elements (SE)
Small sets or sub-images used to probe an image under study for
properties of interest
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Examples: Structuring Elements (1)
Origin
(center of
gravity
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Examples: Structuring Elements (2)
Accommodate
the entire
structuring Origin of B visits
elements when every element
its origin is on of A
the border of
the original set
At each location
A
of the origin of B,
if B is completely
contained in A,
then the location
is a member of
the new set,
otherwise it is
not a member of
the new set.
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Erosion
With A and B as sets in Z 2 , the erosion of A by B, denoted A B,
defined
A B z | ( B ) Z A
The set of all points z such that B, translated by z , is contained by A.
A B z | ( B ) Z A
c
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Example
of
Erosion
(1)
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Example
of
Erosion
(2)
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Dilation
2
With A and B as sets in Z , the dilation of A by B,
denoted A B, is defined as
A
A B= z | B
z
and A
The set of all displacements z, the translated B
overlap by at least one element.
A A
A B z | B
z
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Examples of Dilation (1)
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Examples of Dilation (2)
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Duality
0 Erosion and dilation are duals of each other with
respect to set complementation and reflection
A B
c c
A B
and
A B
c
Ac B
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Duality
0 Erosion and dilation are duals of each other with
respect to set complementation and reflection
z | B Z A
c
A B
c
z | B Z A
c c
z | B Z Ac
Ac B
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Duality
0 Erosion and dilation are duals of each other with
respect to set complementation and reflection
A
c
A B
c
z| B
Z
z | B
A
c
Z
Ac B
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Opening and Closing
0 Opening generally smoothes the contour of an object,
breaks narrow isthmuses, and eliminates thin
protrusions
0 Closing tends to smooth sections of contours but it
generates fuses narrow breaks and long thin gulfs,
eliminates small holes, and fills gaps in the contour
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Opening and Closing
The opening of set A by structuring element B,
denoted A B, is defined as
A B A B B
The closing of set A by structuring element B,
denoted AB, is defined as
AB A B B
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Opening
The opening of set A by structuring element B,
denoted A B, is defined as
A B B Z | B Z A
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Example: Opening
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Example: Closing
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Duality of Opening and Closing
0 Opening and closing are duals of each other with
respect to set complementation and reflection
c
c
AB ( A B)
c
c
A B ( A B )
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